Rain pattered lightly on the single-paned window of my downtown Atlanta apartment. It was a sound that would have usually filled me with bliss on any other day. Tonight, however, I stared at myself in the makeup-smudged hand mirror that leaned haphazardly against peeling wallpaper behind my vanity. Products lined the messy top of the desk, splaying out to clutter it even further.
I examined my face for imperfections, studying my sharp blush-smoothed cheekbones and full lips that I had painted a beautiful deep crimson, and then lined with a deep, almost black, maroon liner.
I hated this part of the job.
It was the only part I could never feel good enough at. It was easy to shake your ass or suck a dick… but makeup… makeup was a whole different ballgame.
After searching my foundation, for a few grueling seconds, I resigned to sigh softly and continue on with the eyeshadow that I had been putting off.
For some reason, midnight blue was calling to me today. I wasn’t quite sure how well it would match with this darker lip color, but I had an inexplicable craving.
Maybe it was the rain… The way the sound of the pattering droplets across the condensation-dripping window reminded me of happier days.
Tar tainted, cigarette smoke stained walls flashed with the light of a far-off lightning strike, and the soft rumble of the following thunder sounded briefly after. I pushed a swift breath of air from my nostrils, glaring a piercing stare out the window as if to curse God himself for threatening my only light source.
A soft buzz startled me, a low rumble emanating from the watch on my wrist. A crease knitted itself between my perfectly manicured brows as I narrowed my eyes at the name that scrawled itself across the screen:
Incoming Call:
Cain
A scoff made its way up my throat, and I rolled my eyes, ignoring the call and allowing it to slowly fade from buzzing…
No joy.
No hope for peace.
It began to buzz again the second that the previous call declined.
I rolled my eyes and mashed the green phone-shaped icon beneath his name.
“What?” I snap, returning my attention to my eyeliner.
This look was turning out better than I had expected; more than likely to the chagrin of the man whose voice sounded a sharp response to my question.
“Where are you?” Cain’s low voice rumbled from behind the screen that currently situated itself on my wrist.
The desire to roll my eyes filled my mind and I stuck my tongue out childishly at the watch as if he could see me. He’s such a dick.
“Val?” He sounded impatient.
I sighed and threw down the makeup brush that had just completed my perfect look for the night, “I am literally at home right now. I’m getting ready.”
He growled a low grumble. I could practically see him pinching the bridge of his nose in his exacerbated attempt to control his temper.
“You were supposed to meet me at the plaza twenty minutes ago. You’re going to be late.”
My eyes settle upon the letters of his name as they glow on the rounded watch. A slow heat ascended up to my cheeks from my chest, and I sighed again.
“No. Lorenzo told me that we were meeting at seven… it is currently…” I swiped his call away and stared at the plainly obvious starch white numbers that revealed my error, 7:25. “Shit…” I swiped back through to his call and mashed the red button to end it.
I leapt from my seat and grabbed a tattered black leather duffle bag, slinging it over my shoulder aggressively as my wrist began to vibrate yet again from another impatient call from my driver. I threw open the door to my bedroom and rushed quickly through the small, cramped apartment, pushing behind the couch where my roommate currently splayed across the messy cushions in some sort of drugged slumber, and dashed through the door.
The corridor was empty, dark, and damp.
Rain pelted down at the city sidewalks around my building, and I felt a curse raise from my chest once more as I realized that all my hard work would be for naught with the impending drenching in my near future.
I raced down the three flights of concrete stairs, my bag bouncing off my shoulder as I ran.
Just as I reached the ground floor, I saw him there.
Cain.
He stood at the edge of the awning holding an umbrella outstretched above his head that was scarcely big enough to cover him in its entirety. His facial features were mostly obscured by the darkness that was cast upon him by the dark concrete surroundings of the corridor, but I could feel his deep blue eyes burning holes into me.
He wore what he always wore: dark black jeans held securely to his waist by a leather belt with an oval shaped, black titanium belt buckle. (It had some inscriptions that I had never gotten close enough to read, etched into the metal on ribbons around a pattern of roses.) Cain’s customary top-wear was a black leather jacket that fit him well, accentuating his broad shoulders and thick biceps that entertained chords of braided muscle beneath the layers of skin, fabric, and leather. Tonight, like almost any other night, a black knit beanie pulled tightly over his ears, flattening down the top of his shaggy brown hair.
I hated that fucking beanie.
I twisted my face into a disgruntled grimace as I stared at him, crossing my arms before myself as I looked at him, “I would have met you at the plaza.”
“You would have ruined your hair and makeup.” He retorts with a snort of annoyance, “Come along, Val. You’re making us late. The other girls will be pissed.” The monolithic creature at the end of the hall began to turn away from me to face a slick black Dodge Charger that rumbled at the curb, the soft roll of its engine hummed through the cascading sound of falling rain.
Cain’s hand extended backwards to offer the umbrella and rain began to soak into the knit fabric of his hat.
I slipped my fingers around the base of the handle, below the grasp of his hand as though I avoided the mere idea of gracing him with my touch.
Before I could blink, Cain had slipped back into his precious car, sinking into the driver’s seat without another word.
The handle of the umbrella was still warm from his grasp, and a hint of his deep earthy cologne swirled in the air around me, dissipating the longer that I stood still. The car growled before me as Cain revved the engine impatiently.
I rolled my eyes and stamped through the puddle laden pathway toward the car, slipping into the passenger side seat with no less than a graceful thud. I closed the umbrella and tossed it to the floorboards, and then placed the leather bag beside.
“You’re a pain in my ass, you know?” Cain grumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance as he peeled away from the curb.
“You could have always picked Sasha and Mags up first.” I spat back.
He didn’t respond, deciding instead to stare straight ahead as he rushed through the lower streets of downtown Atlanta.
Cain always picked me up first. Ever since the day we met, it had always been the same. Methodical to a fault.
Everyone else in the agency seemed to believe that it was because he had a thing for me. They called me “His Valentine” or “Cain’s Valentine”. The name made me sick to my stomach.
When we first met, sure, I thought he was eye candy. But his true nature has since shown itself, and I’ve never been able to look at him the same since… that night…
That night when he watched as one of the guests at a sleezy frat party gig pull me into a room.
I stared him straight in the eyes and called out my safe-word…
But he simply watched with that fucking vacant, brooding stare.
I guess it was his way of punishing me for being such a bitch to him. I was, after all, a bitch. Told him he was nothing more than a man with a big dick and a shiny car and boy did I learn my lesson.
I was drunk. It was stupid.
I was always so fucking stupid.
This thick silence weighed heavily throughout the cab of the car; it was a tension that burned a hole in my chest. Cain was a broody, self-obsessed asshole with a proclivity for doing everything exactly as he saw fit. If I didn’t trust him with my life, it would be so much easier to just up and ask Lorenzo to switch me to another driver.
The car grumbled to a slow halt outside another apartment complex. Two girls with thick, professional makeup stood at the entrance of the building with annoyed sneers on their faces. They raced through the rain toward the Charger and fought to pull the back door open, then they threw themselves inside hopelessly with complaints lacing their every word.
Mags was the first to speak. She was a tall woman with ebony black skin and piercing brown eyes. Her hair was styled in tight box braids that reached just beyond her ass that must have cost her a fortune in appointments. A long white trench coat concealed everything… if anything… that she was wearing beneath, but her legs showed ruby red fishnets with faux diamonds sprinkled throughout and matching red high heels about six inches in height.
“What the fuck, Cain?” She scowled, adjusting one of her false eyelashes as she stared into her reflection at her neon-colored makeup.
Cain shot her a glance in the rear-view mirror, noting that she was far too transfixed by her own reflection to notice his glance, “Val was late.”
My head snapped in his direction, and I felt a heat flowing to my face as I glared daggers into his stupid beanie covered head.
“Don’t blame Val. You should have picked us up first,” Sasha chirps in a hushed tone, sitting peacefully behind my seat. A soft-spoken girl with red hair that was shaved on one side and cut to a sharp bob on the other. Today her longer hair was curled lightly, stings of silver hair tinsel strung throughout. She had on a grey hooded sweater and matching sweatpants with tacky white tennis shoes on, a duffle bag propped in her lap.
Her makeup was by far the best of all three of us. Thick black eyeliner that flicked up into beautiful wings, with black lipstick, and red eyeshadow. Her cheeks were adorned with shimmering body gems, like the twinkles of starlight captured on her rosy cheeks.
Her response signaled a grunt from the driver, and Mags snickered as she peeled her eyes away from her reflection.
“You know he always picks Valentine up first. That’s his girl.”
“I’m not his girl,” I snorted, a display of disgust rolling over my expression as I turned to face them in the back seat.
Cain tapped the accelerator, speeding the car up just enough for us to notice.
He remained silent, the streetlights occasionally painting warm yellow light across his pale face. His white knuckles stood out amid the darkness of the car; like he had something weighing on him that he didn’t want to verbalize just yet.
I turned back to face the front and crossed my arms. There was a desperate attempt within me to keep my gaze to myself, and I resigned myself to staring at the tattered fabric of my duffel bag sitting on the floor.
“Did you bring the gear?” I asked in a mutter.
“I always bring the gear,” Sasha piped up, patting the duffle bag in her lap with a grin, “don’t worry. I made sure to add the spicy lube this time.”
A smirk rose to Mags’ face as she jabs an elbow into Sasha’s side. The pair burst into fits of giggles, and I couldn’t help but feel the energy in the car brighten around me. The tension seemed to be slowly melting away…
That was until I turned my glance to Cain and saw that he was surrounded by his own personal haze of conflict and frustration.
“You could at least pretend to like us,” I complained, my eyes narrowing in his direction.
His eyes remain glued to the road before him, “My job is to drive, drop off, and protect. Liking you doesn’t cross into that description.”
Despite my general annoyance with him, the words still kinda stung. I rolled my eyes, fixing them to the distant scenery in stubborn silence instead.
“Seems like trouble in paradise,” Mags mused, never looking up from scrolling on her phone.
Sasha laughed as she pulled a tube of lipstick from her bag, “what do you mean? I have never seen them get along.” She tapped the black ink to her lips, pursing them together to smooth the pigment into her skin.
“Exactly!” Mags cheers, “That means that as soon as we are behind closed doors, they can’t stop themselves from wanting to hate-fuck one another.”
I turned my head over my shoulder to send a disgruntled look to Mags, but she simply grinned, waving her slender fingers at me playfully.
The revving of the engine began to soften as Cain pulled up to a college campus, and the energy zipped from the car once more. He came to a rolling stop outside of the frat house we would be visiting. There was already a mess of chaos over the front lawn with drunken college kids running amok.
I bit the back of my lip, “Classy venue.”
Mags groaned, “I thought Lorenzo said no more frat parties after what happened to-”
“It is a high-profile client’s birthday.” Cain shut off the words that Mags had voiced before she could even finish her train of thought. There was a sharpness to his tone, protective.
Any complaints we felt had been immediately silenced, and despite our disagreement, we each exited the car.
Cain led the way, with Mags and Sasha in the middle. I trailed behind, my black shoes squelching beneath me in the muddy grass. It was a fitting visual to match the way my brain felt in this very moment.
As we grew nearer, a gaggle of inebriated college-aged men began to wolf whistle and whoop. It summoned feelings of rage within me but I silenced the thoughts. I was here for a job, one that I was damn good at.
Cain did most of the talking, asking for a room to be cleared out for us to change and store our belongings in for the duration of the party. He then led us down a small corridor to a bedroom that had seen better days. It would do though, at least for the few hours that we would be here.
Each of us set our bags on the bed, and Cain perched himself at the door with his arms crossed over his chest.
I scoffed, “You know better than to stand and stare at us. Make yourself useful and guard the outside of the room, you brute.”
His eyebrow lifted as he stared into my soul for a moment.
I won’t lie… A rush of fear fell over me… and it turned me on.
Eventually, he nodded without a single word and exited the room, pulling the shitty plywood door closed behind him with a rattling thud. With his presence now vanquished, so too was the inexplicable inability to catch a full breath of air, so I pulled one in deeply for the first time since he had gathered me.
I turned to Mags, who had removed her trench coat to reveal a stunning red leather lingerie set that perfectly accentuated her full hips and her round ass. She had a knowing look in her eyes as she stared at me.
“Who told you that color of eyeshadow would go with that lip?” she asked in her kindest possible mothering tone.
A spatting of red dusted across my cheeks, darkening the synthetic blush further and warming my face, “Does it really look that bad?”
Sasha stepped in front of me, her sweats now removed to reveal a pleated tartan skirt with no coverage of her ass. She pulled me to sit on the bed and gently retrieved out a makeup wipe from the duffel bag on her left, “It is actually really pretty, but your lipstick clashes… and the blue doesn’t match your outfit.” Sasha drags the wipe across both of my eyelids in a very professional manner.
Sasha used to be a lead makeup artist for a local movie studio, but she was laid off when her boss tried to sleep with her, and she rejected him. I wasn’t quite sure how she figured working as an escort under Lorenzo’s thumb would be any better than that, but I greatly appreciated her presence.
Her and Mags were my best friends… my only friends in this world. She diligently worked on my eyes, quickly finishing me off with a dazzling eyeshadow and eyeliner that rivalled her own.
When she was done, she lifted a compact mirror to show me.
It was beautiful… too beautiful.
A pang of insignificance droned in my chest. I nodded and smiled gratefully at her, then unzipped my duffel to remove a slick black faux leather two-piece lingerie set. I removed my clothing and slipped the black fabric over my skin, tightening the multitude of straps. Then stooped to put on a pair of black platform boots that had chains hanging from them.
The other two girls perfected their own looks: Sasha had now removed her sweater to reveal a very oversized, somewhat sheer white top with a red frilly bralette beneath it. I smiled at each of them and then glanced down to Sasha’s duffel. There was a smaller waterproof bag inside which contained numerous silicon sculptures that ranged in size and shape. I smirked at her and then stepped toward the door, rapping the back of my knuckles twice against the wood.
In an instant, the door swung open and Cain slipped inside.
“Are you ready?” he asks, his eyes falling respectfully on each of our faces.
We each nodded in unison and Mags and Sasha began to exit the room with their matching white dressing gowns tied closed around them.
I reached to tie my own gown around myself when Cain stepped closer to me, “Are you going to be okay, Val?” his eyes focused on my own. For some reason, I thought that there was a glitter of concern in those blue orbs.
A flutter of indecision churned in my chest as I forced myself away from thinking too hard about the memories. I stiffened, squared my shoulders and straightened my spine.
“I don’t really have a choice.”
He seemed displeased by this answer, but his steely blue eyes remained heavy on mine, “You know the code word. Say it and I bring everything to a halt.” He assured me, then turned and left the room.
A burning warmth lingered on my cheeks, but I shook it away, assuming it was the nerves that bubbled in my belly like every other time we did these events. I pulled the fastener of my robe closed and joined the other two girls in the lounge.
I noted the raised platform where we would be performing most of our acts.
“Thank you for your invitation tonight, I want to introduce my girls: The Varsity Vixens.” Cain’s voice took a saccharine softness, deepening intentionally on our name to churn the hearts of the few women who speckled the room. “We have a real treat for you, our first lady of tonight, Madam Magnolia Bites. A woman who can take a man to his knees with just a single glance.”
Mags pressed the tips of her fingers to her full, luscious lips and blew a kiss into the audience. The crowd oo’s and aa’s, filling with a lusty air that we were all too used to.
“Miss Sasha Sins, will make you quiver… in fear or pleasure? That is up to you to decide.”
Sasha made a flirty bow, slipping a hand through her meticulously styled hair. Claps and shouts rang out just as they had for Mags.
“And finally, per special request. Our finest, most skilled temptress this side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Our Lady Valentine Valore.” Cain’s voice rolled in a deep, seductive tone as my name rolled off his lips.
I fanned my face with one hand, my eyes narrowing into sultry slits as I pretended to be disinterested in the audience. Men crave what they cannot have, and although the cheers didn’t sound as loudly as they had for the other girls, the room felt heavier with seduction.
“Before we begin, we have a few rules.” Cain broke through the air with his typical voice returning. Despite the crowd booing and jesting, he continued. “Rule Number One. Do not touch the girls unless they permit you to. This act of denial is part of the act itself.
Rule Number Two. Absolutely no kissing the girls on their mouths.
Rule Three. Each girl has the agency to tell you to stop, if you persist, they will have a signal word that is unique to them. The second that word is shouted; the entire show is over. Don’t ruin the fun for the whole group.”
A roar of boos crashes through the audience, but some of the stronger and more sober men hushed the rowdy ones.
“Finally, there will be toys that you will be permitted to use during the show. You are absolutely not to use anything on the girls other than the toys supplied by them personally.” Cain finished, then glanced at us. “Are you ready girls?”
“Yes, Daddy!” Sasha called out to him, her lively curls swaying with each bounce.
Without further ado, the music began, and we each took our places. On beat, we pulled open our dressing gowns one by one and allowed them to slink down to our forearms. Then in unison we pulled them off and tossed them into the crowd. A few men cheered, having caught the forlorn clothing.
Mags and Sasha stepped down from the slightly raised platform, leaving me alone on the stage to saunter through the crowd of horny intoxicated people. They would run their hands over shoulders, teasingly sit in laps, and more while I danced. This was a dance I had done a million times. It flowed out of me; I could feel an energy of control washing over me and I stepped down from the stage to the man seated in the very first row.
“Hello, birthday boy,” I cooed in a raspy tone into his ear, my legs perching on either side of his hips as I clasped his face in my hands.
“I heard you’ve been… a little lonely” the words rolled from my lips in an intoxicating chant as I felt his length harden beneath his trousers.
He inhaled sharply through his nose, biting at his lip as his hands hovered anxiously inches away from my hips, barely heeding Cain’s warnings.
I laughed, thrusting my chest upwards and pulling his face into my leather restrained breasts, “You sorry sap. You must love being tortured.”
The crowd began to grow in excitement as Sasha returned to the stage, taking control of the audience while I had the guest of honor’s face stuffed into the ample flesh of my breasts.
Sasha pulled open a few of the buttons from her shift as the song swiftly changed to her own. She started to dance seductively, reaching behind the stage to remove a long white stick with a silk ribbon that extended from it. As she danced, she twirled the ribbon. It danced around her in a blindingly beautiful display, and the audience watched in awe.
As Mags stepped back onto the stage, she held a bottle of champagne. Her dark fingers clasped around the neck as she popped the cork, and the bottle sprayed a wave of foam all over Sasha’s sheer white top. The fabric began to stick to her, becoming more sheer by the second until it was clinging to her skin tightly, showing the tiny bralette and her pierced belly button beneath.
Mags then tossed the bottle at the nearest audience member and moved to stand behind Sasha. Her hands traced Sasha’s sternum, unfastening buttons slowly until the wet shirt hung listlessly from her shoulders. Mags placed a few kisses along Sasha’s neck and then slipped her free from her shirt before tossing it too into the audience.
I rolled my hips along the length of the Birthday Boy, then pushed myself away from him. His hands twitched as if he wanted to grab me and pull me back, but he didn’t. He knew better. Cain’s eyes could be sensed burning holes into anyone who came too close to any one of us.
I stepped back onto the stage just as Mags ripped off her lingerie to reveal sparkling nipple pasties and a thin red thong beneath her fishnets. She and Sasha both turned to bare their visible asses toward the crowd and I stood between them, unzipping the leather restraints which confined my breasts. As pressure released, my tits spilled from within and the crowd reveled in it. I slipped the leather top off and threw it directly back to the birthday boy, and then Sasha knelt on the ground before me.
The crowd roared as Sasha tugged at the leather bottoms from around my waist and finally pulled them down to my ankles. She then crawled between my legs, her own ass showing clearly to the audience as Mags pushes me to my knees, my thighs framing either side of Sasha’s face. Mags then pulls my arms behind my back and binds them in thick chorded rope.
Sasha perched her hands on my ass cheeks and lifts her face toward my pussy, her tongue grazing lightly against my clit as her own legs lay spread open for the whole audience to see. They waited on bated breath as Sasha begins to lick my clit. Mags retrieved a large purple dildo from the bag and walked over to the special guest. She extended the silicon toy to him and pointed to Sasha’s open legs with a wordless demand.
His eyes glazed over and I watched as he stared between the toy and the woman beneath me. Mags then stepped back onto the stage with a steely gaze that searched the eyes of each audience member. They cheered for their friend as he stood and sank to his knees between Sasha’s legs, pressing the tip of the toy at her entrance. She let out a slightly excited groan and her hips wiggled.
The audience members drew closer, the fifteen or so men and women fighting to watch as the birthday boy slipped the toy into her pussy all the way. At the same time, Sasha licked my clit just enough to signal me toa moan.
Mags pushed my shoulders forward and I leaned over Sasha, pressing my face down to place kisses against her clit in return. I could hear the trembling breaths of the man before me as he watched, slowly moving the dildo in and out of Sasha. She returned his grace in my direction, sucking lightly on my own clump of nerves. I whimpered, trying to avoid grinding my hips into her face. This wasn’t for my pleasure. It was for theirs. All of them, as they watched.
Mags retrieved a second dildo from the case and walked it over to a tall handsome man with dark features, handing it to him and then pointing wordlessly to me. The tall man smirked and then practically ran over to me. He crouched behind and pushed the silicon length deep inside of me without hesitation. He must have thought it would feel nice. It didn’t.
Dildos take a touch of technique… which he clearly didn’t have.
Despite this, I choked back with my own annoyance as whatever pleasure Sasha had given me faded, and I made direct eye contact with the birthday boy, letting out a loud and helpless moan.
“God, I’d fuck her if I were you, Kev!” One of his friends shouted behind him, but Kev’s eyes stayed locked on mine. He began to speed up the thrusts of the toy within Sasha, and she moaned against my pussy.
Our ebony friend took care of the shouting man, approaching him and pulling him onto stage where she made him peel back her fishnets and start to perform oral on her.
The audience began to grow wild and before I could really tell what was happening, Kevin had reached to lightly brace his hand around my throat.
Panic burned in my chest, but I didn’t yet sound the alarm. I moaned lightly, staring into his eyes. If I just gave in to what he wanted, he would probably move on from me soon.
I was wrong.
With my next moan, I could feel his grip around my throat tighten, his eyes darkened as he slammed the toy into the girl beneath me. Sasha was growing uncomfortable and had stopped licking my clit. He was getting more aggressive with her, and suddenly I was thrust into a reality which was far too sinister for my liking, my eyes frozen as if he had locked them in place. I could see the seething desire in his terrifying orbs.
In an instant… everything stopped. The music cut silent, the lights flashed on, and the burning warmth of Kevin’s tight clutch on my throat disappeared. As my senses returned to me, I glanced down to see tears on Sasha’s face. He had been too rough with her; she’d given Cain her code word.
Cain shut everything down and then removed the men from the stage, ushering us into the room where we had gotten ready before.
It felt like I was floating.
It felt ike the world was running on a speed that my brain couldn’t cope with. The next few minutes were a blur as we quickly changed out of our skimpy, lube and alcohol-soaked clothing, back into our transitional clothing.
The ride home was silent.
That eerily thick air of tension was strong in the car, but as Sasha and Mags got out, Mags dipped her head low to peer into the cab of the car. She grumbled, “If Lorenzo ever sends us to a frat party again, I quit on the spot,” And then slammed the door.
Now alone once more with Cain, I could see his knuckles gripping tightly to the wheel. There was something on his mind, but he didn’t say anything. Even as we approached my apartment, he sat in complete silence.
I looked at him one more time as I reached for the door handle, but he didn’t even spare me a glance. That pissed me off. His stupid beanie covered head faced away from me, even as I slammed the door to his precious car and stomped upstairs.
I burst through the front door of my apartment to find my roommate/ex-boyfriend, Finn, still asleep on the couch. Probably drugged out of his mind.
I groaned and kicked my shoes off before slamming my bedroom door shut and sinking to the ground behind it.
Tears welled in my eyes and then spilled down my cheeks in waves. I hated this. I hated everything about this. The other girls always threatened to quit when a gig was difficult… To leave me by myself, knowing that I can never escape from Lorenzo’s grasp… and that bastard, Cain!
He was meant to protect me, but all he ever did was brood and complain, and brood some more, and now when I think he might offer me some semblance of sympathy…he ignores me like the memories I had weren’t shared with him. As if he didn’t know what happened to me.
I pulled my phone out of my bag to see a number of notifications that I couldn’t care less about, swiping them all away. I then checked my hidden inbox to see if Lorenzo had emailed me… but nothing.
Solitude is horrid. Solitude pushes people to the brinks of their own destruction… and I think I am on that brink. Maybe I should just give in and let Lorenzo win…
But then my phone rang…
And that fucking prick’s name flashed across my screen.