Page 42 of Sunrise (Monarch Club #3)

Sophie

It takes me a hot minute to understand I’m in Dmitri’s old room at the Monarch and not in some creepy basement.

It’s pitch black in here, except for the glow of a laptop screen across the room.

Rolling over on the cot, I glance at Vault and calmness blankets me better than the thin comforter I’m wrapped in.

Even with the stern scowl on his face, his presence brings me extraordinary peace.

“What time is it?”

He lifts his gaze to mine, and gracefully closes the laptop. “Two-thirty-seven. P.M.”

Jeez, I really slept hard. “Why are we in Dmitri’s room?” I’ll always consider it his, even though Vault spends a suspicious number of nights down here nowadays.

“You passed out in my arms on the way to your room. I couldn’t very well put you on the back of my bike and take you home like that.

I wasn’t about to drive you home in one of the club’s cars either because I was fucking exhausted too.

You needed uninterrupted sleep, so D’s room seemed like the best option. ”

Shit. Knox! We told him we’d see him last night after work. I sit up abruptly, blindly reaching for where my cell could be. “Does Knox know we—”

“I texted him last night. It’s fine.”

He doesn’t sound happy. “Did you sleep at all or pound more energy drinks and sit on your computer the whole night?”

My question comes out a little more hostile than I wanted. I’m not a morning person.

“I slept well enough,” Vault says, but he’s getting closer to me now. I can’t see much of anything in the dark. “You snore, did you know that?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Like cutting logs with a chainsaw. You also talk in your sleep,” he says, even closer to me.

My heart races a little faster. He’s like a wolf prowling in a dark cave around me. “And… what did I say?”

His voice rises in pitch to sound more feminine. “Vault is the best dick I ever had. He’s so handsome and hung.”

Laughter blasts out of me. He sounds ridiculous. And cute. “Oh yeah? What else did I say?”

“I love Vault so much.” His high-pitched voice cracks. “He’s so sexy and smart.”

“Is that so?”

“Mm hmm. You must have been dreaming of me.” He’s so close I can feel his breath on my neck and body heat against my latex outfit. He’s lit up every atom I possess by crawling to me in the dark like this.

“Help me out of this thing,” I say in a partial whisper.

“My pleasure, Mistress.” He finds the zipper in the back of my bodysuit and peels it down. The material sticks to my skin. I don’t normally wear this particular ensemble but wanted a lot of coverage last night.

“Take me to the shower,” I demand softly.

Vault scoops me into his arms and walks through the pitch-black room easily. It takes him a hot minute to find the doorknob, but once he gets us into the bathroom, he turns the light on.

I squint against the brightness, burying my face in his shirt. It brings me back to last night when he carried me to my room. The smell of him, his heat, his hard body, protective arms, even the way he breathes comforts me. “I love you.”

Vault sets me down, and the bathroom tile is so cold, it sends goosebumps rippling all over me. “I love you, too.” His response is quiet. Controlled.

Sincere.

If I want a huge, over the top proclamation of love and soul mates, it will never come from Alex. He’s not built for it. Knox is the man with the dramatic flair. Alex is subtle. Intense. Poetic in his simplicity.

I love you from his mouth is like opening the earth’s core and seeing the center burning hot. Hearing Knox confess it is like strapping yourself to a rocket and blasting through the milky way. Both are incredible.

“Did you find anything?” I don’t know why I’m asking about my ex-sub in the middle of such a nice way to wake up, but it’s already eating at me.

Vault was sitting on the opposite side of the room, so I couldn’t see what he was doing.

The minute I woke up, he’d closed the laptop.

But his possessiveness is practically rolling off him in waves, which leads me to believe he was searching for the man who haunts me.

“Not yet,” he says in a dark, frustrated tone.

He will though. If anyone can find Christopher Rivetti, it’s Vault. He can dig up dirt on everyone and anyone. He missed his call as a private investigator.

Then again, maybe he won’t find anything at all. Maybe Chris is dead in a desert somewhere, never to be found again. Or… he changed his identity, like me.

A shiver runs over me that has nothing to do with the cool bathroom.

“Shower with me,” I say, but it sounds like a question.

“Of course, Mistress.”

“Stop calling me that.” I wrap my hand around his neck and rest my head against his chest. “Please.”

He tucks me into his arms and holds me. The shower starts to steam up the bathroom. Vault pries me off him and just as the sting of rejection sets in, he strips out of his clothes.

“Come on, baby.” He guides me into the shower.

It feels so good.

Tipping my head back under the spray of hot water, I rehash what I did at the club last night—anything prior to that is still too raw for me to poke at or dissect.

For the first time ever, I didn’t participate in any club activities.

I even canceled all my sessions and gave the clients to other Dommes, which I’m sure pissed some members off.

But I’m not here for them. I’m here for me. I don’t even care if that makes me selfish.

To be a Domme, for me, means I think of my desires first. And I’ll do what I want to fulfill them.

It just so happens that my desires are to make others happy.

I love encouraging my subs to come out of their shells of shame and embrace the kinks they like.

Even better is when I get to give them those things. Whipping, flogging, edging…

Joining this lifestyle was such a game changer for me.

I discovered myself in ways that no book could teach me.

As someone who grew up in a very conservative, religious family, I couldn’t wait to get away from my family because I was always suffocating and lonely.

My childhood was spent either studying or doing a sport.

Other than that, I didn’t get out much. My parents wouldn’t allow me to hang out with anyone they didn’t think was following the path of God. Little did they know I was an atheist.

Once I hit college, I never looked back.

And after Christopher attacked me and I had to testify in court, my family saw me differently.

The shame I brought to them by being a dominatrix was more powerful than their love for me as their only daughter who was attacked by a sick man.

They said a woman who plays the devil’s games is bound for Hell and that they’d pray for my soul.

I haven’t spoken to them since. I don’t miss them.

But I’d miss being a Domme if I had to stop.

A few months ago, Ryker asked me if I wanted to take over managing his other sex club, The Luna.

It’s brand new and on the opposite side of town.

The clientele isn’t the same as the one at the Monarch, but kinks are kinks and dominating is dominating.

Whether it’s attached to an astronomical membership fee, or an affordable one, doesn’t matter.

I turned him down because the Monarch Club is my home.

Not the Luna. If I can’t be myself here…

“Tip your head for me, baby.” Vault pours shampoo on my hair and massages it in. “It’s gotten so long.”

“Hmm? ”

“Your hair. I was thinking about that last night.”

“This is the length it was before I had to run.”

He rinses my hair thoroughly, then conditions it next.

I’ve honestly never seen him this attentive before.

It’s usually me giving him aftercare. Spinning around, I run my hands up his abs, pecs and shoulders.

He has a jagged scar on his left shoulder cap.

“Are you going to tell me how you got this?”

“I did already.” He’s got this adorable, lopsided grin. “It’s from a hippo.”

I bite my bottom lip, failing to hide my smile. He always comes up with random, outrageous explanations for this particular scar. “A hippo ? I thought it was an alien attack.”

“A hippo alien attack. They robbed me blind and were never caught.”

I chuckle at his terrible story. Vault’s different lately. This change in him opens a whole deeper level for me to fall in love with.

“Knox’s dad shot me,” he says, with no humor in his tone.

My stomach drops. “What?”

“It was a long time ago. His dad was out of his head and had him at gunpoint. I distracted him. It gave Knox a chance to run, and I got off easy with just a bullet graze.” He shrugs the scarred shoulder.

“Helluva badge of honor. He’s saved me more times than I can count, so it’s nice to have been able to return the favor. ”

My god. I… I have no words.

Immediately, the image of Knox’s gun tattoo comes to mind with the words save me on the barrel. It hits differently now that I know the story of Vault’s scar .

The history they have is so deep, I doubt I’ll ever reach the bottom of it.

“D sewed me up,” he says, like it’s no biggie.

“You didn’t go to the hospital?”

“That would raise too many flags. Knox didn’t want his father in trouble for it, and the gun that was used was mine and unregistered. Which was also extremely illegal.”

“You had a gun when you were in high school?”

We’re from very different worlds. I’ve never even held a gun in my hands, much less owned one.

“I bought it for reasons other than what you think.”

“You don’t even know what I’m thinking.”

“I tried to kill myself,” he confesses, stunning me.

He’s right. I never would have thought he’d get a gun for that.

I want to cry. “Oh, Alex.”

“It was during my weakest point.” His brow pinches as he looks off to the side for a moment and shakes his head. “Well, one of my weakest points. Knox stopped me before I could do it.”

Sharing this part of himself makes me feel closer to him, but also light years away from him at the same time. “Why are you telling me this now?”

He looks me dead in the eyes, his tone soft and strong. “Because you shared your darkness with us, Sunrise. And I needed to share the rest of mine… ours … with you.”

I knew about his SA. I knew he’s been madly in love with Knox for forever.

But this level of intimacy doesn’t just speak about the strength in our trust with one another…

it shows that he’s opening up and gi ving me a glimpse of the person Knox has been fighting to get back since the day he lost him.

Cupping Alex’s face with one hand. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

He’s done everything .

“You took on a hippo alien robbery,” I remind him, placing a hand over his heart. “And I bet you’d do it all again if you had to.”

He closes his hand over mine. “In a heartbeat.”

We stare at each other as steam swirls around us. He’s not just saying he’d take another bullet for Knox. He’s saying he’d take one for me…

Vault’s smile warms my soul as he lightly tugs my earlobe.

I love this man so fucking much.

When he leans in to kiss me, I’m sure it was just supposed to be a peck.

A gentle assurance that he’s where he wants to be.

However, I take control effortlessly and start a spark that sets us alight.

Caution blows to the wind as we turn into a tornado of lust and hunger.

I shove him against the wall and hold him there with one outstretched arm.

My other glides down his body until I cup his balls.

Wrapping my hand around them, I pull his sac hard enough to make him groan.

Alternating between nips and licks, I nibble my way down his body until I’m on my knees with his dick jutting out in my face. Stroking the shaft, I suck his head and keep playing with his balls. Massage, pull. Massage, pull.

“God damn, I love your hot mouth on me.” He lets me take my time giving him pleasure, at my pace, in my way. When he finally explodes, Vault fills my mouth with cum and I swallow all of it.

He’s still catching his breath while I wash him. “Thank you for always taking care of me.”

“We take care of each other,” he says in a deep, tired voice. “No matter what. No matter how. Always .”

Something tells me he’d do more than take a bullet for me.

I hope my theory is never put to the test.