We were escorted into a semi-private room off the main club and seated in a dark corner in a booth covered in soft purple velvet. Dim lights flickered around the room and provided just enough light to see who you were with but not enough light to notice their imperfections.
It was the perfect place for people who craved privacy and those who didn't want to face the reality of their night's companions. For us, it hopefully would be secluded enough that no one would notice me and interrupt our time together. In any event, I'd prepared for the worst, but I really hoped we could avoid any unwanted attention and just enjoy being with each other.
The beat of the music thrummed inside my head, making it hard to hear anything else, so I pulled Nina close to me. "What do you want to drink?"
She looked around the room as the place began to fill up and turned to smile up at me. "What are you drinking?"
"Scotch."
"Do I like scotch?" she asked with an innocence that made me rethink that idea of not coming at ETA.
"No, I don't think you do," I answered after thinking about that first night we'd spent together. "Maybe something sweeter?"
"Okay," she said and then bit her lip nervously. "Any ideas?"
"I'll have the bartender make something you'll love. Wait here. I'll be right back."
The guy behind the bar seemed to know exactly what Nina would like although I said nothing more than 'make it something sweet', and I returned to the table with a glass of twelve year old scotch and a chocolate martini.
Nina looked down at the martini glass rimmed with sugar and then looked up at me. "What is it?"
Leaning over to whisper in her ear, I said, "Taste it. Lick the rim and then take a taste of the drink. It's sweet."
She tentatively slid her pink tongue over the frosted sugared rim of her glass and took a tiny sip. The liquor slid down her throat, and she turned to face me with a smile. "It's chocolate!"
A tiny sugar crystal hung off her bottom lip, so I slid the pad of my thumb across it to clean it off before I licked the sugar from my finger. "Definitely sweeter than I'm used to," I joked as I reached for my drink to wash the overwhelming sweetness down.
Nina touched where I'd slid my finger across her lip and smiled. "You prefer the harder stuff, don't you?"
"I guess I do."
She licked her lips and reached up with her fingertip to touch mine. When she tasted the drop of scotch from her finger, she made a face like she'd just sucked a lemon. "I think I'll stick with my sweet stuff and leave that to you. That's gross."
"It's an acquired taste, I guess."
"Maybe someday I'll acquire it," she said with a tiny smile.
I shook my head. "You're more the sweet kind."
Two hours later, we'd talked little more because the music had become so loud we could barely hear one another over it. Memories of my time at clubs just like this one washed over me, making me wish for somewhere far quieter. Nina seemed to enjoy watching the sea of humanity that flowed past us, but I didn't get the sense she was having fun.
My suspicions were proven correct when she turned to me and said in my ear, "I wish we could find a place just a little quieter. Can we go somewhere else?"
I was thankful to get away from ETA and had a place in mind that would be a bit quieter, although I wasn't sure I should take Nina there. It was definitely more secluded and out of the city, but was Top the right place to take someone like her, even if I was part owner of the place?
Jensen held the door open for Nina and as she climbed in, I said to him in a low voice, "Take us to Top. Do you remember how to get there?"
As stoic as Rogers, he simply nodded his head and waited for me to get into the back seat of the car.
"Where are we going?" Nina asked as we pulled away from ETA.
"A club I know of. We'll be able to talk there. They have a private room we can use."
"Where is it? Near here?"
I shook my head. "Outside the city. It shouldn't take long to get there."
Nina talked about how she and Jordan had always planned a huge celebration for her twenty-first birthday. The sadness at the time she'd lost was clear as her voice dropped and she said quietly, "I wonder if we ever did that."
I texted Top's owner, Chase Mitchell, that we were coming, and almost a half hour later, we were in the suburbs at the club. The facade of the building gave no indication of what Top truly was. An old warehouse, Chase had converted it into a members only club three years ago, and other than an occasional visit now and then, I'd been a completely silent partner in the business. Chase's fetishes weren't my style, but the club had made a handsome profit for both of us, so who was I to look down my nose at one man's turn-ons?
I held Nina's hand as we walked up to the door and as I knocked on it, quietly said, "This place will be more intimate."
Her blue eyes widened and a look of fear settled into them. "What kind of place is this?"
"A private club that I'm half owner of. Don't worry. It'll be fun."
"Okay. Promise you won't let anything happen to me, Tristan."
I squeezed her hand and brought it to my lips in a kiss. "I would never let anything bad happen to you, Nina. Never. You can trust me."
The door to Top opened, and just inside stood Chase with a stunned look on his face. "Holy fuck! I got your text and thought somebody was pulling my chain. Tristan Stone as I live and breathe!"
Nodding, I pulled Nina close to my side as the doorman shut the door behind us. "Nice to see you, Chase."
"You're just in time. The night's just getting started. But I'm more interested in who your friend is."
Chase turned his focus to Nina and extended his hand to shake hers. "Chase Mitchell, owner—well, half owner of Top. What's your name, darling?"
Before Nina could say a word, I pulled his attention back where it belonged. "Remember your place in this, Chase. We want to find a secluded spot and have a few drinks, so how about you show us to one of the private rooms?"
Nina reached her hand out and introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Nina. What kind of place is this?"
Chase shook her hand and looked at her like she was some kind of morsel, ratcheting my anger up a few more notches. "What kind of place is this? Love, this is the finest private club on the East coast."
"Private club?"
"Members only and high rollers. Whatever they want, we have at Top."
Nina looked up at me with a confused look on her face. There was no point in explaining it. This probably hadn't been my best idea, but now that we were there, that was a moot point. I really didn't want to explain anything in front of Chase, so I merely shook my head.
Chase continued to talk, testing my patience even more. "Tristan, I didn't expect to see you so soon after last time. You looking for the same? What can I interest you two in tonight?"
"Interest us in?" Nina asked in a shaky voice as she stared wide-eyed up at me.
"You look like you could be a walking schoolgirl fantasy, my dear. No wonder he brought you here."
We stood there surrounded by an awkward silence as I struggled not to knock Chase on his mouthy ass. He got the gist of my glaring at him in little time, though, and quickly escorted us to a dimly lit private room. Nina took a seat at one of the tables as I excused myself to speak to Chase alone.
Closing the door behind me, I grabbed him by the collar and pasted him against the wall. The bass from the music in the main room of the club began to vibrate the lights that hung near his head and only served to irritate me more. "You have less than five minutes to get me the finest scotch you have in this place and a chocolate martini. And I'm not talking about that bottom shelf shit you try to pass off on the customers."
Chase opened his mouth to protest his innocence, and I pushed him into the wall again. "And one more fucking word out of you and I'll make sure this place is shut down by tomorrow morning. You'll have nothing and I'll be short one pissant fucking club I care nothing about. Do you understand me?"
Chase looked at me with fear and confusion. "What? She seems nice. I was just teasing. Trying to give her a compliment. Is that the one I saw you with at some party a few weeks back? The one who was in the car accident? She's got a nice, girl-next-door look you haven't gone for in years."
"Now you have four minutes."
"How did that couple work out? The ones you took out of here a while back? I never got a chance to hear how that went."
Pushing Chase away from me in disgust, I turned to join Nina, adding, "And have someone else bring the drinks."
I found Nina sitting at a table watching some sex show on a big screen television on the other side of the room. Chase had obviously gotten the wrong idea when I said secluded. I sat down across from her and waited for the inevitable questions.
"What kind of place is this, Tristan?" she asked in a hurt tone. "Do you bring women here all the time?"
I could barely make out the sadness in her face, but it was there. "Don't listen to him, Nina. I barely know him, and he knows nothing of what I feel for you."
"What did he mean schoolgirl fantasy? What is this place?"
"Don't let him bother you. He's an ass. I just helped him get this place off the ground."
"With money?"
"Yes."
"Is this a nightclub? What did he mean when he said it's a private club?"