Page 26 of The Good Girl Effect (Salacious Legacy #1)

Camille

T he club is darker and louder than I remember. There is a line of people outside along the street, and I find it strange how rowdy it feels once I get inside.

This doesn’t seem like the kind of place Jack would own.

Once the bouncer by the door lets me in, I move immediately through the thick horde of people toward the elevator that leads to the basement. I give my name to the security guard by the doors, and he lets me in immediately.

When I reach the basement of the club, I have to squeeze past more people to get to the back, where I found him last time. The large room where the various exhibition booths are is just like it was last time, only a bit more crowded.

When I spot Jack near the last stall, he smiles at me before catching himself and pasting that stoic expression back on his face.

I cross the room toward him. When he lifts a hand toward the space where he’ll be performing the bondage on me, my skin erupts in nervous goose bumps.

There is a large, padded bench in the center as well as ropes situated on hooks along the back wall.

Just like the room in Jack’s apartment, there are suspension beams and hooks.

I can’t wait until we can start using them.

I stand toe-to-toe with him as he stares down at me. “Take a deep breath,” he says. Then he starts unbuttoning his shirt.

I can feel people watching us from around the room, and it’s unsettling to have half of their attention.

“Don’t worry about them,” he says. “They’ll be looking at you soon enough.”

I bite back my smile as I bask in his attention.

“Take off your clothes,” he murmurs. “Just like normal.”

Just like normal , I think as I peel off my dress in a crowded room. There is nothing normal about this. While I’m feeling anxious, Jack seems to be cool and calm. He is my anchor in this sea of uncertainty.

When he turns me around to braid my hair, I close my eyes and try to siphon some of his serenity in this situation.

But when I open my eyes, I notice a woman watching me with interest. She’s holding a drink and talking to a man while her eyes stay fixed on me.

She smiles as if she finds all of this very amusing, and I don’t like the way it makes me feel, so I close them again.

He wants to show me off.

I keep reminding myself of this, hoping it will settle my nerves.

Once my hair is braided, he reaches for the black ribbon hanging nearby. Our eyes meet in a quick glance as he strings it through his fingers.

“Ready?”

Letting out a long sigh, I nod.

When Jack drapes the blindfold over my eyes, his presence burns more potently.

His breath, his touch, his warmth. I focus only on him, putting all my trust in him like I said I would.

But having one sense taken away only heightens the others, which means the room becomes louder and hotter, and it’s nothing like the room we do this in at home.

As I kneel on the padded bench, I wait for Jack to place the ropes around my arms or torso. Instead, he wraps his arms around me, firm, warm muscles engulfing me tightly.

“You’re shaking,” he whispers. “We don’t have to do this.”

I shake my head. “I want to do this.”

He tears the blindfold off and forces my chin upward. “Open your eyes, little bird.”

At that name, a gasp slips through my lips, and I pop my eyes open, staring up at him in surprise. Little bird, like what my father used to call me. Like I told Jack in my letter.

“I’ve got you,” he whispers.

My brows pinch inward, because none of this makes sense. Jack brought me here to show me off. To tie me up. Not to make me feel so seen it brings tears to my eyes.

“We can stop,” he says, his arms still wrapped fiercely around me.

“I don’t want to stop,” I whisper in return.

“Are you sure?”

I nod.

“I want you to tell me if you start to feel uncomfortable,” he says, softly running his knuckle across my cheek.

“I will,” I say under my breath.

This time, when he puts the blindfold over my eyes again, I am much more at ease. My shoulders melt away from my ears, and the tremble in my bones fades.

Then he starts wrapping the doubled cords over my body, starting with my torso and moving up to create an X shape between my breasts.

This rope is a bit coarser than normal, creating a slight itch against my skin, but I focus on the burn of it instead of letting it bother me.

The friction creates tighter knots, feeling more secure against me.

As he finishes up the chest harness, I hear the crowd around us quiet. Without seeing them, I can tell they are watching us.

He’s showing me off.

I lose track of time as he binds my wrists behind my back, attaching them both to the harness.

I lose myself to the nimble expertise of his fingers, touching me everywhere.

There’s an ache in my shoulder, but the longer I sit like this, the more my body melts into the position, and the discomfort dissipates.

When he ties something at the end of my braid, I know what’s coming next.

“Hold very still,” he says. Then my head is forced back as my hair is bound to my wrists, leaving my neck exposed. “How do you feel?” he asks, running a hand softly over my shoulders.

“Good,” I reply.

Then he leans in until his mouth is near my ear.

“You should see the way they’re staring at you,” he mumbles softly.

His hand closes around the front of my throat, and I let out a gentle whimper.

He’s leaning over me from behind, touching me because he can.

Because I let him tie me up and surrendered my body to him.

I wish he’d do more.

Even if sex is off the table, I want to savor every single touch. Every single moment that Jack is in my presence feels as good as sex to me.

With one hand at my throat, the other trails down my body, lightly drifting over my breast and belly. When he reaches my panties, my body tenses, and my breathing accelerates.

“I have you all to myself now, don’t I?” he whispers in my ear. “I could do whatever I want.”

I fight a smile as I lean back into him. What used to feel like torture feels like heaven now.

Touch me, tease me, make me want it. The wanting is the good part.

A moan escapes my lips as he slides his hand into my panties, and I nearly forget there is an audience watching.

“Is this breaking the rules?” he asks as his finger barely kisses the sensitive bud between my legs. “I can’t tell.”

My skin breaks out in a light sweat as he continues to tease me with his touch. Then his fingers dive deeper into my panties, and I jolt with anticipation, but my body is stuck in this position with nowhere to move.

And when he drags his finger through my folds, finding them soaked, he growls loudly in my ear. “God, you’re so wet, little bird.”

I don’t know if the room has grown quiet watching us or if the blood pounding in my ears is just so deafening I can’t hear them anymore, but it’s like Jack and I are the only two people who exist right now.

With his hand between my legs, touching the most intimate part of me, nothing else matters but this moment.

He continues to tease me, running his finger through the moisture, sliding between the lips of my core without penetrating me, and it’s driving me mad with need. What I wouldn’t give to have him inside me.

The wanting has turned into needing, and needing hurts.

“You have been a very good girl for me, haven’t you?” he asks as his finger slides a little deeper.

I whimper against him as my neck starts to ache from stretching backward. The pain and the burn and arousal all blend into one until it’s everywhere and I can’t tell one from the other.

“Is it time for your reward, little bird?” he asks, sinking his middle finger to the first knuckle.

I fidget as a throaty, guttural sound escapes my lips. “Yes, please,” I beg.

“Shall we show them what good girls get?” he growls in my ear as his finger sinks deep inside me.

I groan loudly, trying to move although I’m completely bound. He holds me upright, and all I hear is his breathing in my ear as he slides his digit in and out, picking up speed and using his palm to rub against my clit.

“You are soaking my hand,” he says, only turning me on more.

The muscles in my thighs grow hot as I clench them, struggling to keep them apart when all I want to do is squeeze them together and ride out a much-deserved climax. Instead, my body surrenders to him, letting him wring out my pleasure like I’m a doll for him to play with.

“I’m almost there,” I squeak as I fidget some more.

“Oh, I can tell,” he whispers, kissing my neck.

His hand picks up speed, holding a steady tempo that draws all my attention and every ounce of blood in my body to that one sensitive spot.

Pressing the heel of his palm against my clit, he draws quick, tight circles until the sensation explodes behind my eyes and my muscles seize with white-hot pleasure.

“That’s it, little bird. Let it go. Come for me.”

I let out a screaming gasp as my body answers to him, coming hard against his hand.

My hips are thrusting and writhing as he continues the movement, letting me float through the climax for what feels like forever.

My head is stuck in the clouds, focused only on the sensation and the need.

But as I come down, I’m flushed with humiliation.

I just had a full-blown orgasm in public . People are watching. I’m mostly naked, blindfolded and tied up, and I just let Jack St. Claire get me off like some horny cat in heat.

“Oh my God,” I mumble as I try to turn my head toward him. The tight rope at the end of my braid keeps me from moving much at all.

“That was beautiful. Don’t be embarrassed.”

“I’ve never…” I stammer.

I didn’t even feel him pull his hand out of my panties, but the absence of his touch is cold and aching.

I can’t drag air into my lungs fast enough. Everything hits me so hard, and I start to tremble again.

Once the thrumming in my ears subsides, I hear people speaking, but my mind doesn’t comprehend their words, just their presence.

“Focus on me, Camille,” Jack says, his fingers deftly working to release my knots. “You’re doing so good.”

Somehow, Jack feels closer to me now, like what we have is more significant than lust. Maintaining these boundaries between physical and emotional has made us stronger somehow.

That’s when it hits me—he touched me. He walked right over that line and listened to what I said today.

We can be sexual and intimate with each other and still stick to our rules of never letting it affect my position or his daughter.

“How are you feeling?” he asks, pulling the blindfold from my face.

To my surprise, my eyelashes are wet when I blink them. I give him a solemn nod.

He leans in, nearly touching his forehead to mine as he says, “Use your words, little bird. Let me hear you.”

I have to swallow down the rising emotion in my throat. My chest is still heaving, and goose bumps cascade across my entire body. “Good,” I say, although it doesn’t feel like enough. Gazing up into his eyes, my mouth cracks into a smile as I add, “I feel great.”

Then Jack aims that brilliant, beaming crooked grin of his on me, and I begin to melt. “Good,” he replies. “Now sit down. I want to massage your shoulders because I know they’re sore.”

I can’t help but bite my bottom lip as I sit down on the bench with my back to him.

He covers his hands in warm oil and slips my bra straps to the side before kneading his fingers gently into my shoulders.

I let my head hang forward and savor his touch and how good it feels as his fingers loosen the tight muscles.

“The club isn’t normally like this,” he says as he works. “We’re going to be making some changes around here, and I wanted to bring you in before we shut down.”

My eyes pop open. “Shut down?”

“Temporarily,” he adds gruffly.

Jack continues massaging my shoulders and down my back, and the temptation to push the boundaries of our relationship is prominent. Surely, if he can get me off in front of a crowd, I can ask more about his work now.

“How did you end up owning a sex club in the first place?” I ask.

He doesn’t show any hesitation as he lets out a huff. “It belonged to my godfather, who passed it down to me. In fact…my mother runs one back home.”

I giggle to myself. “The family business?”

“I guess so,” he replies with a chuckle. “I know it sounds strange to others, but it’s not strange to us.”

“I don’t think it’s strange,” I reply. “I assume you’ve been learning this stuff for a long time then.”

“Bondage? Yes, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I started practicing it. It was…a coping mechanism.” He adds that last part, and I know that it’s a struggle for him to be so vulnerable and speak about his wife’s death. Not wanting him to close me out again, I change the subject.

“So why are you shutting the club down?”

“Well, my godfather didn’t just pass it down to me. He passed it down to six of us to see if we could run it together, the six children of the original owners of another club back in California. A club that did superbly better than this one is.”

“It’s not going so well?” I ask.

“Not at all. Everyone has different ideas about what this place should be. And the worst of all is my godfather’s self-indulgent son. So I’m going to let him run this place into the ground so we can start fresh.”

My brows furrow.

When I don’t respond, he pauses, his hands on my back. “You think I’m wrong for doing that, don’t you?”

“I don’t know anything about running a business, but to me, that decision sounds like it’s coming from a place of spite. If your godfather gave you this club to run it together, I don’t think he’d want to hear that you let it fail just to prove a point.”

I bite my lip, hoping my first time truly speaking to Jack about his work didn’t just end in failure from my outspoken, arrogant mouth.

He doesn’t speak, letting his fingers trail softly over my skin. My shoulders don’t ache anymore, but my heart does.

“You’re right,” he mumbles quietly.

“I’m sorry,” I say, spinning toward him. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’ll go back to being quiet.”

The corner of his mouth lifts. “No, I like to hear your voice.”

“You do?”

We’re lost in each other’s eyes when someone starts shouting across the room, and a fight breaks out. The room instantly erupts into chaos, and Jack quickly pulls me into his arms.