Chasing Scarlett: A Breeder Romance

17. Clubbing

Scarlett

“Really?” I yell over the blasting music, gripping Lorcan’s fingers tightly as he leads me through the throng. It’s a club, but it is way more than that. I’d been surprised enough at its location—a shady street downtown and a building that looked abandoned and decrepit from the outside. Only…the inside is…well…I swallow for the third time in the past minute.

Eyes follow me as I walk through. Humans, lycans, wolves and if I’m not mistaken, I sight a couple of wings behind the tall pillars. The iridescent lights make it hard to tell the eye colors in here but I’m pretty sure there are vampires too.

They’re feeding and f*****g and dancing. Much like everyone else in this depraved place. “Why on earth would you bring me here?” I whisper, even if I’m sure they can all hear me, judging by the glances I get. "You might as well announce to the entirety of Avallen that I'm back in Ohio!"

“You’re safe within these walls. None of them will touch you. They know better than to try piss us off.”

“Us?” I echo as he pulls me out of the way before a kissing-moaning couple can slam into me. This place smells like s*x. It’s heady, and the endorphins are crawling up my skin, begging entry into my body to mess with my brain again.

Lorcan looks back and his eyes are dark with desire that isn’t entirely his. My mouth dries and my tongue flips out to wet my lips. His eyes track the movement as he says, “Did you never wonder why we were here on the night of your accident? We own this club. Admittedly, it was Tiarnan’s idea, but Riordan thought it would do more good than harm, since the vamps couldn’t keep to their side of the borders. A place where our races don’t matter. A neutral ground to let loose.”

I stare around, wide-eyed. “There are humans here! You’re letting them feed on humans!”

Lorcan gaze struggles between my lips and cleavage before he looks ahead, tugging me along. “They want to be here. They gave their consent to be used like this. Humans love the high that comes from being fed on; being f****d by one of us. You’d be surprised by how much they pay to be here. It’s all by the book, Scarlett. It's all business. If you’re going to ever accept us and what you are, you must learn to accept that the world isn’t black or white. It’s f*****g grey and you’re right in the middle of it.”

“I never did say I was going to accept either of you. I know what you’re doing. It won’t work with me,” I point out, because I feel like I need to repeat that to myself. I shouldn’t even be here. Letting Lorcan sweet-talk me into putting on that dress was a colossal mistake.

He tugs me forward so suddenly, I lose my footing. His hands band around my waist to catch me, and I’m suddenly shoved against the pillar, hard enough to knock the breath out of my lungs. Lorcan’s fingers twine in my hair, and he yanks my head down so that I’m looking up in his eyes. “But you’re here, aren’t you? You followed me out here without asking questions because whether you wish to admit it to yourself or not, you want to trust me.” He loosens his grip on my hair a little and jerks his head towards the crowd. The hood falls back from his head and his curls fall around his face. “Look around you, baby. What do you see?”

I glare at him. “I’m not your baby.” But I let myself take in our surroundings and I regret it almost immediately, cringing. “People dancing and…fucking?”

Lorcan shakes his head. “Even your outlook on things are so f*****g rigid.” His hand slip from my hair and he grips my chin, angling my head left to a beautiful Fae man with purple hair, standing between a man and woman. The woman is on her knees, between his legs and the man is kissing his neck, slowly, down to a spot between his wings that makes them twitch. I should find it disgusting, but it is oddly…arousing. “Fionn’s brother, Morien, due to wed tomorrow to a vampire heiress he absolutely loathes. That, is how he destresses.”

He tilts my head again, this time to face a handsome human male with a vampire’s fangs so deep in his neck, his eyes have rolled back in his head. I recognize the human from an award’s event and last I recalled, he’s very married. With children. “Bartholomew King. Married with two children that aren’t his. He can’t have children. His wife doesn’t know that.”

Oh. Well, damn.

Lorcan goes on showing me even more people in screwed up situations and I find myself squirming when I realize just what point he’s trying to make. “Your way of helping me ‘relearn’ who I am is by bringing me to an orgy house to f**k me?!” My voice is loud with worry and disbelief, earning a few stares from the people around us.

Or that could just be because of Lorcan. The women have been ogling him since we walked in. There’s a blonde currently pulling down her blouse right beside him, showing him her perky n*****s—and I almost wished I had smaller boobs because of how nice they look.

But Lorcan doesn’t have eyes for her. His focus is zeroed in on me and my breath quickens when I feel his calloused fingers ride up my gown and inch so close to my panties. “No, baby. Not yet. Today, you watch.”

A little higher and he presses a knuckle against my clit, through my panties, earning a surprised ‘ooh’ from me. He laughs at that and pulls away, ushering me into the elevator. My cheeks flame and I stare pointedly at the ground as I feel the odd sensation of falling. Why do I feel so hot everywhere? Like a freaking teenager who just received her first kiss? Dieu...

When we step out of the elevator, I am greeted with a whole different world. If the upper level of the club was an orgy, then the lower level is Sodom. I've never seen so many naked people in one place at once. Well, I do suppose that means nothing because I've only seen about six naked bodies in my life, including mine.

The music is loud, rattling deep into my bones and I find myself dancing, even if I don't do heavy metal. It's addicting, sexy, the kind of music you gyrate too. The kind you have hard s*x with. Everything is bathed in red, and there are so many sweaty bodies. Oily, sweaty bodies. Women and men alike are on all fours, against the wall, hanging off poles, twisted from awkward angles and... it's too much.

For me.

Lorcan's fingers settle on the small of my back and he urges me forward. "A little further. Breathe, Scarlett. Breathe."

I nod, clutching at my chest, chanting to myself again and again that I'm f*****g stupid for following Lorcan out here. I think he hears me, because his body shakes with laughter as he leads me behind, to a set of stairs heavily guarded by lycans, all dressed in black.

They lower their heads in deference when we pass and Lorcan doesn't acknowledge them. There's a pitch black door at the top of the steps and I expect fear to curl up in my chest. I expect my brains to return from the vacation it has obviously taken. Instead, I feel an odd sense of anticipation.

When we reach the door, I see that it's a curtain. Not a door, and I can't hear a single thing coming from inside. Lorcan stops just outside, and turns, cutting off my view of his very tall, very broad back. His canines gleam in the sinful light as he smiles. "Ready? If you wish to turn back, you all but need to say the word. I'll take you home."

My eyes widen. "Really?".

He snorts, "No," and the bastard shoves me past the curtain.

I stumble, and when I right myself enough to raise my gaze, I'm greeted with a rather unholy sight. We're standing outside what looks to be a spectacle glass box, but on the inside...my goodness. My jaw seems to be permanently unhinged. I don't know where to look at. The whip in Cillian's hand that he caresses lightly before striking it against the red ass of the woman cuffed to the St. Andrew's cross--if my memory of bondages serve me well or the naked darkhaired woman in Riordan's lap, riding him wildly as he stares off into space, bored.

I know how these things go. It's a one way glass. I can see them, but they can't see me.

Waiting for the anger to come is futile. All I feel is lethal jealousy. It carves into me, sinking into my belly and awakening the slumbering beast inside. I hate it. I hate them for making me feel this way. I hate myself for wanting to be the one in Riordan's lap. Ever since he left my house last night, I have all but thought about what it'd feel like to have his lips on mine, his fingers working my inner folds.

And there he seats, a f*****g king on a gigantic red throne, receiving pleasure and managing to look absolutely gorgeous and nonchalant. He watches the woman with lazy black eyes, his chin resting on his fist. His feet spread wide to accommodate her and I feel my breath catch when her hands reach out to clutch his shoulder as she rises up his c**k and slams back down, her moan loud enough to escape the glass.

My insides clench. f**k.

"Lorcan?" I breathe.

"Yeah?" His voice is closer than I expect.

"Why...what is this?"

"The truth," Lorcan whispers. "This is who we are, Scarlett." Cillian grabs the woman, uncuffing her hands and in a matter of seconds, he's bending her over a different, red cushion and driving into her with a raging hunger. "Mindless beasts. Scared? Riordan doesn't look so prim and proper anymore, does he?"

As if on cue, Riordan's seizes the woman's throat. I watch with wide eyes as he pushes her onto her knees and stands. His grips her hair, hard, and she licks her lips, staring at his bouncing erection, and when he pushes into her mouth, I know it won't fit. It doesn't, but it doesn't matter. Her lips move with expertise and his eyes close as he rams into her so deep, tears leak from her eyes. That is not the man who made me coffee and dinner, the man who respected my wishes when I said not to touch me. That is not the Riordan I've come to know.

And suddenly, I understand why Lorcan brought me here to see his brothers like this.

I turn to Lorcan. "I didn't understand before. I couldn't wrap my mind around why you would help me, but f**k if I can believe this is why you brought me here.To belittle Riordan and ruin his image before my eyes. Cillian's too. You somehow figured that Riordan came by and this," I gesture to the club. "This isn't for me! None of this is! Let loose? You're a liar. A pig!"

Lorcan's eyes flare black for a moment. "Then you've chosen Riordan? Without getting to know me? The rest of us?" He's suddenly sniffing my hair, my neck. "Did you already f**k him? Will you have his child again?'

I fight him off. "Don't touch--" My body stills. "What did you say?"

"I found your little secret, Scarlett," he croons, edging a step forward. "I suppose we can make a bargain. Just what lengths are you willing to go to keep your daughter safe?"

I let my anger rush to the surface, I let it consume me whole and I hope he sees every inch of it in my hateful expression as I lean into him. "If you touch her, Lorcan, I swear there'll be no corner in Avallen to save you from my wrath. I will kill you and bathe in every drop of your blood. You touch a single hair on Wren's head and that is the last day you breathe. I promise you."

The voice that slips from my lips sounds nothing like mine as I throw them at him. They are not threats. I think of Wren and I know I'll kill Lorcan if anything happens to her. I'll rip him apart, very slowly and...Will you have his child again? He couldn't possibly mean...

Lorcan raises his hand in mock surrender. "It's your choice, Scarlett. One word from me to the right people and the puny human who watches her will be just as dead as your father."

I can't breathe. This, this is why I ran, and I'm somehow back here again, because of my hesitation. I should have shot him when I got the chance. How did he find Maisie and Wren? I made sure to cover my tracks. I made sure every transaction I made couldn't be tracked. I didn't risk visiting my daughter because I knew I'd lead them right to her. How could he have found them? Clenching my fists and blinking back the tears, I force out, "What do you want?"

"The crown."

"You can't have it."

"There's nothing I can't have, Scarlett. Absolutely nothing. You call me a pig, but I'll never force you into my bed. That'll make me no different from him. But I do need you to understand that you will have my child. I will be king and you will crown me during solstice in a couple of months. You have a month at best to come to terms with this and willingly offer yourself to me." His fingers catch my chin. "Do it for...Wren."

A tear escapes my eyelids. "You're the worst."

His eyes twinkle with amusement. "You clearly haven't interacted with Cillian."

I hate him. It's that single thought that washes over me as I punch him. The impact knocks him back into the glass and shatters it and I waste no time pondering on how easy that was before I turn on my heel, ignoring Riordan's startled question that sounds very much like my name and Cillian's muffled cuss."Scarlett? The Hel is she doing here?!"

Story of my f*****g life.