The ride was wild, exhilarating. Xavier's school was remote. They whipped along the back roads, full of hope and expectation. By the time the bike reached the city, Marie was euphoric. Logan enjoyed her pleasure as only a man with enhanced senses could; the thrumming excitement in her tense body, the quickened cadence of her sweet breath in his ear, the wild slamming of her heart against his back and her silvery laughter on the night wind. The scent of joy, clean and sweet, filled his head.
He felt her hands squeeze him lightly to get his attention. He slowed, letting the roar of the engine subside into a rough purr.
"Does it still feel like this for you?" Was it still as good twenty years on as it was at first?
Logan knew instantly what she meant. Wild. Free. In the wind and unrestrained with a world of open possibilities in front of them.
"Every time."
There was a soft beat of time where they both savored the old memory his answer had invoked. He liked even more that she'd asked, that she respected his privacy in that way. He knew damn well she could have looked in her head for that answer easily enough. It made him feel safe. He thought again about the things she'd given him through the years and the things she gave him still. A tingle of excitement skittered under his skin at the thought of what they might give each other tonight.
They navigated the busy streets, weaving deeper into the industrial district. Logan rolled the bike to a stop outside a nondescript warehouse. A valet appeared seemingly out of thin air. They dismounted and Logan tossed over the keys.
"Same place tonight, Mr. Logan?" Logan didn't like not knowing where to find his bike if he needed it in a hurry. He had been very explicit about that in the beginning. Now they had a system. Aaron always parked the bike in the same place and had the hostess bring Logan the keys, though he was certain someone who was that untrusting probably carried a spare set just to be sure. Aaron didn't really mind. A lot of their clientele had strange requests. This banality barely registered.
"Yep. Take it for a quick spin first if you wanna, but you scratch it and I'll scratch you, huh?"
The young man nodded, chuckling at their long-running joke. "Yes, sir." Slipping on the bike, he disappeared with a grin and a hearty wave.
"Logan?" Marie was confused as they stood alone on a deserted street. There was nothing at all inviting or exciting about where they'd found themselves. "I'm confused. Even the whack shack looked better than this."
"Heh. Anonymity, darlin'." Chuck wasn't the only one who understood the benefits of blending into the crowd. "It don't look like much on the outside. That's the point. It's not supposed to be easy to find. S'one of those word-of-mouth kinda places." In point of fact, it was exactly that. The Red Door was an exclusive club that catered to an upscale, mostly mutant clientele with a taste for wild, edgy sex and a deep desire for privacy. "It's just through here." He lead them down an alley and entered a plain, rusty, gray door. Marie followed, wary but curious and surprisingly calmed by the large hand that appeared at the small of her back.
The door swung inward to reveal a large open space. It was all concrete and metal, the feel industrial and cold, though the ambient temperature was quite a bit warmer than she was expecting, probably to facilitate a lot of naked skin. It was already making her unzip her jacket. There was an old fashioned freight elevator located in the center of the space; the kind with a hand-operated iron grill. It was flanked by two sculptures, one glass, one metal. At the far end of the long room was a teal blue door, behind which Marie could hear muted hum of music and the steady driving rumble of deep thumping bass.
Directly to their left was a sleek granite counter manned by an ethereally petite woman with shockingly fair skin, short, spiky, white-blond hair and eyes so pale they were barely tinged blue. She was wearing a severe grey suit and a truly wicked pair of black stilettos. In front of her was a slim silver laptop and a smart little phone the same pale icy blue as her eyes. Her scent was mercurial and Logan had never been able to figure out if she was a human with a mind like a steel trap or a mutant with a perfect memory for details. She knew everything about everyone, from their names and account numbers to their favorite drink to the kind of sex they liked to have and who - or what - they liked to have it with. There were times he thought the laptop might be just for show. She was that good.
"Good evening, Mr. Logan."
"Willow." The name fit her. Strong, flexible, and he bet it stung like a son-of-a-bitch if she lit into you. She was the kind of woman you didn't fuck around with. She liked his easy charm though, and he was always respectful, even when he was making wickedly indecent proposals with his eyes. He was probably the only man who dared. She was frightening. Definitely not his usual preference, but he'd always liked strong women. There would be none of that tonight, however. Logan's hand slipped from the small of Marie's back to draw her closer, but he didn't introduce her and she was glad. She wanted to be as low key as possible. The less people who knew her name here, the better.
"Two for tonight?"
"Yep."
"Is the account we have on file for you still current?"
"Sure is."
Her fingers flew over the keyboard. It had a significant positive balance, though she already knew what it was to the penny. Logan didn't do credit or plastic. It was always cash, usually a lot of it paid at one time and he worked his way through it at his leisure. He wasn't a regular client, but he was certainly memorable. Once every few months, he came in, blew a few minds and left the staff talking for weeks.
His body was terrifyingly beautiful, his physical stamina was wildly impressive and he handed out orgasms like newspapers on a Sunday morning. Any one of those things would be enough on its own. That particular trifecta catapulted him into the legendary class, and that was without taking into account what happened on the top floor afterwards.
He was abrupt and direct, but he had a playful streak under that brooding surly exterior and he treated the employees respectfully and tipped well. He occasionally liked to pick a fight, usually with someone who deserved it, but every client had their faults and Logan was sharp enough to never throw the first punch. He was definitely a man worth the occasional trouble he caused.
"Will you be requiring your usual room tonight? I can check if it's available."
Usual room? Marie's ears perked up at that.
Logan felt Marie tense slightly under his fingers.
"Not tonight, honey."
Willow kept the surprise from her face. Normally Logan called in advance, preferring to go about his business with a minimum amount of contact, aside from the occasional bit of teasing and a smoldering glance or two. He was one of the few men who'd ever tempted her to break her stoic reserve. He'd also never brought a woman here before. He was a staff favorite and she knew it wouldn't be long before that little tidbit made its way around tonight.
The girl on his arm was pretty. Younger than she imagined he'd be into, given his history here. Definitely an innocent if the wide eyes and high color were any indication. Nothing like the women he usually went for. Willow's delicate features remained perfectly placid, even as her mind whirled.
"Where shall I have the hostess bring your keys?"
"Second floor." His lips twitched with amusement. Willow's expression might not have changed one iota, but her scent said she was very surprised. Logan rarely bothered with the lower floors. "Whatcha got on deck tonight?"
"Naamah and Blaze in the East Chamber. A new human/mutant hetero pair in the West Chamber. Very sensual. Mostly vanilla with some interesting hints of D/s. Excellent opening acts for both. Breathplay and shibari, respectively." Logan was nodding. Marie felt very lost and distinctly out of her element.
"Sounds good." He almost smirked as Willow's eyes widened slightly. He'd never so much as seen a crack in her facade before.
Good? She couldn't have been more shocked if he'd said he wanted her to order up some popcorn and find a copy of Mary Poppins for him to watch while she painted his nails.
"Will there be anything else you require this evening, Mr. Logan?" A copy of Alice in Wonderland, perhaps? She had the feeling the girl at his side was about to take quite a tumble down the rabbit hole. Eat me. Drink me.
Fuck me.
"That'll do me." He turned to look at Marie. "Unless there's somethin' you want, darlin'?" He stopped just short of waggling his brows at her.
Marie blushed to the roots of her hair and shook her head. She had no idea what to even ask for, although something told her the tall, svelte, blonde woman had probably seen and heard it all. That thought gave her flagging bravado a shot in the arm. She intended to embrace this experience with open arms, to meet him as an equal on this new battlefield.
"I'll let you know if there is, sugar. Shall we see if they have a Playboy for you?" This time it was Logan's eyes who widened. "No? Alrighty, then. Lay on, Macduff..."
He didn't say anything but he chuckled at her sass.
Willow watched the exchange raptly. The little slip of a girl teased him like that? Who was she to him? They were throwing off some serious sparks so she didn't think she was just a friend. Pity about that. It made the fantasy better to imagine him unattached. "The passcode tonight is KNOT. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do for you."
"Thanks, honey. You have a good night, now."
Marie's eyes flicked to the elevator and she realized that there was a very modern keypad set into the wall by the old iron grill. She was curious. And she wanted to check out the sculptures, too. Aside from the blue door, they were the only other source of color in the entire gray space.
As they walked away from the counter, Marie looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Usual room, sugar? Care to share?"
He shrugged. "I get a room here sometimes, kid."
Kid? Willow was almost out of earshot but she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Usually her job was pretty boring. There wasn't much that was new to her after four years working the front desk, but that had shocked her in a way something deviantly kinky never could. Affection from Logan? Prurience, sure. Lust, sure. But true affection? Willow suddenly, desperately, wanted to be the girl worthy of such feeling from a man like that.
Marie's mind was spinning.
"You pay for things here... besides the cover?" Marie could imagine him hooking up with a woman here. Maybe even more than one at a time, but the lingering pieces of him in her head were very clear that paying for sex wasn't his style. It made her burn with curiosity.
Logan nodded.
"What kinds of things?"
His brow arched. "Baby, when you have enough miles on ya to have a similar answer to give me in trade, we'll talk. Until then, it's for me to know and you to find out." He was aware she thought he tomcatted around a lot, though it wasn't nearly as often as she imagined.
As they'd grown closer, he'd pulled back some, partly because he knew Marie wouldn't like it and partly because they all paled in comparison to the woman he really wanted, although every now and then he came here and really cut loose. He needed the release. It was easy enough to find a willing partner or two - or three - upstairs from among the other patrons. He usually fucked himself into a pleasure-soaked coma and then retired to a private room where he paid a woman to cover herself from head to toe and hold him while he slept. There was no way he was telling Marie that.
She pouted playfully and he was very tempted to kiss that teasing little mouth of hers, mutation be damned.
"C'mon." He guided her towards the waiting elevator.
Marie shivered, aware that the elevator was hardly as innocent as it looked. Once she stepped inside, nothing would ever be the same again.
Up next: Love In an Elevator. Going up...
Thanks for the awesome response to the last chapter! Y'all gave some inspired song recs. I'm currently writing some citrusy foreplay (I'm sure you're all shocked. heh). Anyone got an 80's song rec for that? I need a little inspiration and I feel like Pearl Necklace is maybe a little too on the (ahem) nose... ;)