Noah didn’t try to change my mind. Instead, he reached up and began unbuttoning the coat I was wearing.
I pulled it tighter around my shoulders. “I want to keep this on.”
He stayed quiet, but I could tell from the look in his eyes, from the look on his face, that he thought we’d have a greater chance of drawing out Katie’s killer if I took the jacket off, if I walked into Force with my body on display.
I nodded silently, and he removed the coat from my body and set it in the car.
He took my hands in his and kissed me softly on the forehead.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a leash.
I shook my head. “I don’t want to be collared.”
“It’s not a collar. And it’s not up for discussion.” He fastened a leather cuff around my wrist. The cuff was attached to a long silver chain. Noah wrapped the end of the chain around his hand, weaving it around his strong forearm. “You will not take this off while we are outside of my private room. No matter what happens. Do you understand, Charlotte?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not fucking around, Charlotte.” His forceful tone was laced with tenderness and protection, and I felt a surge of love for him. I allowed myself one tiny moment of wishing, one tiny moment of fantasizing that we were just a normal couple, that we were going out on a date in the city before heading back to Noah’s apartment where we’d watch a movie and cuddle in bed.
Noah pulled on the leash, making sure the cuff was tight on my wrist. “Do not take this off.”
“Yes, sir.” I’d meant it to come off as sarcastic and flippant, but instead my voice sounded pliant and submissive.
He nodded in satisfaction. He leaned in close to me. “If you want to leave, you just say ‘red’ and we stop,” he said. “I will get you out of there.”
I nodded, and he kissed my lips.
Then he took my hand and led me through the door and into Force.
***
I noticed more details this time.
The narrowness of the corridors.
The way our footsteps echoed over the concrete floors.
The smell was stronger than I remembered – smoke and must and something industrial.
I tried to pay attention as Noah led me through the winding halls, tried to focus on whether we turned left or right, if there were any doors or distinct markings I could use as landmarks. The last time we’d been here I was so overwhelmed I hadn’t been able to keep track of where I was.
I knew I needed to try as best I could to learn the layout of this place. But it was impossible. The corridors all looked the same, the winding deep red and black pattern of the walls swirling together, making it seem as if each wall bled into the next.
Despite my best efforts, soon I had lost all sense of direction.
Eventually, we got to the end of the main corridor, which opened into the main room. There was a bouncer standing at the front, just as there had been last time.
He nodded at Noah as we passed by. The bouncer’s eyes met mine, and I recognized him as the one I’d asked about The Dark Room, the one who’d led me to Audi.
Suddenly, everything from that night came rushing back to me in flashing scenes that burned in my brain.
Noah ripping up our contract.
Me running out of the room.
Anonymous telling me to ask for The Dark Room.
Being strung up by Noah’s brother, the way Audi had looked when he’d sliced my skin with his knife. The wound was still there, and although it hadn’t been bothering me, as soon as I thought about it, a throbbing pain seemed to radiate from the cut.
Noah’s hand tightened around mine as if he instinctually knew I was struggling, and his touch gave me strength.
The room was much the same – the scuffed black tables and chairs scattered around randomly as people moved them to suit their needs, FORCE written across the ceiling in scrawled letters.
I remembered those girls, the one’s going to the slave auction, how dead their eyes had looked, their expressions withered like husks.
Now up on the stage was a woman wearing a plaid schoolgirl outfit, her hair in pigtails, knee socks and black Mary Janes on her feet. She was bent over a heavy oak desk. A tall African American man forced her to hold her skirt up as he whipped her ass with his belt. Another woman in a matching plaid uniform sat in a chair watching them, her legs spread for the crowd as she fucked herself with a vibrator.
The club seemed busier tonight, or maybe I was just more aware of the men around me, wondering if any of them were Anonymous. Their eyes raked up my body, over my breasts and my bare ass, making no qualms about the fact that they were enjoying ogling me. They were an eclectic bunch, some of them wearing leather and carrying whips, some of them dressed in suits, some of them casual in jeans and dark t-shirts.