••AURELIA POV••

"You better be joking," Cecile stops abruptly on her way to guiding me into the hallway that opens into the club. She faces me.

"He's gay Cecile," I bite out.

She quickly retorts. "Yeah I heard you the first time, I just thought," she pauses mid sentence.

The bass from the club bounces across the walls like a second heartbeat under my skin. Colored lights flash across her face, but I can still see the way her expression twists from shock first, then into anger.

"I'm not joking," I say louder. "I saw him!"

Her grip tightens around my wrist. She continues to pull me further into the crowded bar.

"With Derek?" she asks sharply.

I nod once.

"Oh, that cunt" she cuts herself off, dragging a hand through her hair. "That absolute idiotic cunt! I knew something was off about him, I just didn't think he was so cheap and disgusting."

A humorless smile touches my lips. "Disgusting?" I scoff out loud. "Oliver's the disgusting one here using me all my life for goddess knows what!"

We might have been dating for four years but we grew up together since that horrible accident when I was seven. His comforting presence led to the feelings that made me confess Junior year in high school.

Oliver said yes and he looked so excited. To make things more beautiful, we successfully established a fated mate bond that's very sacred. It says we're destined to be together yet here I am mourning the reality that Oliver can never love me or any Woman in the way I thought he did.

The mate bond called us soulmates. While Oliver's mouth on another man made it feel like a curse.

It's so humiliating. Not only did he not love me, he didn't care about me at all despite being my best friend too.

Cecile turns to me fully now and her eyes scan my face like she's trying to measure how much damage has actually been done. "And what did you hear them say?" she inquires gently.

I hesitate a little because saying it out loud makes it real in a way I'm not sure I can undo. "...that I'm convenient," I confess anyway. "That all I'm good for is my father's connections."

"I get he's the Prince and all but no way can he get away with saying that." Then to my confusion, she veers around, grabs two glasses from a passing tray and shoves one into my hand. "Drink Now."

This time unlike before when I try to maintain my reputation as a good girl, I see no reason to refuse a drink so I pour the entire shot down my throat. The alcohol burns and it settles in my chest to spread a comforting warmth through the numbing pain.

"Again," Cecile says and so we drink again and again until the fabric of the world softens around the edges and the music drowns out my thoughts.

At some point, her provocative friends join us. Their clothes range from too much leather to too much skin. They laugh loudly and dance freely. Meanwhile, I feel out of place in my short floral dress and jacket.

"Is she roleplaying an innocent sub or something?" I hear someone tease about me. "kinda cute," a beautiful girl with a full cleavage winks at me.

My cheeks flush with embarrassment so I let down my ponytail for my curly hair to cover my face.

Despite the teasing, the entire scene is tempting given I've never felt like I could be as free and reckless without my controlling father breathing down my neck and my condescending boyfriend talking me out of anything fun in the name of our reputation.

The deeper we move into the club, the more the appeal grows. We enter a more private section where it's pretty obvious the sex part happens. I catch a couple of makeouts, grinding, and odd displays of bondage and strippers of every gender serving people they call Masters.

"This is?" I let my curiosity get the best of me.

"A sex dungeon, At least that's what it's called." Cecile murmurs near my ear. Her voice is warm with alcohol and mischief. "No one here cares who you are. It's just all about what you want, Aurelia."

That should terrify me instead it sparks up my initial idea to a huge flame. If Oliver won't fuck me, someone else will and no ounce of guilt will come out of it.

"Wait here, I need to go find someone," Cecile rushes to a man by a lounge with two girls rubbing on his chest.

My gaze drifts around, unsure where to look. Everything my eyes land on only leaves me flustered and my thighs tingling deliciously.

But then a flash of silver hair catches my attention. He walks in, tall and alluring and instantly stands apart from the other strippers despite wearing similar attire.

He's wearing a mask that barely covers his face yet it shadows his features into something intriguing. He's very handsome, way more so than Oliver. His chest on display shimmers with sweat that rolls down to his defined torso. Sexy is an understatement.

He's perfect.

I step toward him before I can think better of it. Cecile calls out to me but it fades into the noise. I've made up my mind already. I want him. Not sure why but I do.

When I stop in front of him, he doesn't move. His eyes are an icy grey that reflects the lights that pass through them like a kaleidoscope. He stares at me as I stare at him.

The way he doesn't rush to fill the silence makes my pulse spike harder with excitement. Perhaps he can tell already what I want.

I reach into my Jacket and pull out a few folded bills with my black card. I hold them out to him. "...strip for me."

••AURELIA POV••

"Is that what you think I am?" He asks with a half grin. Then he lowers his head to look at himself and says humorously, "Right, I am dressed like one."

His voice makes me swallow as he smoothly talks with a deep voice.

I try not to appear charmed so I continue to stare. He doesn't feel like the others here. The other men had leaned, performed, presented themselves but he's poised like a predator before it lunges for its prey. Seemingly harmless but potentially dangerous.

"I don't care what you are," I find my voice and lift my chin slightly. I force the words out, "I just want you to be it for me."

He smirks with obvious amusement. My thighs tingle once again at the sight of it. I rarely felt this way with Oliver.

"Dangerous answer," he murmurs. "But, I like it!"

My fingers grow moist around the money still in my hand, but I didn't step back. "So are you going to do it or not?"

He's quiet at first, looking like he's still trying to decide something. Are they always this hesitant? I couldn't help but wonder.

Surprisingly, he leans in slightly. The small action is intimidating but the faint grassy chocolatish scent on him only pulls me closer.

"Not here, If I'm performing, it should be just for you, princess," he tells me with a playful smirk.

The word performing shouldn't sound so dirty yet it does. He softly licks his lips right after.

"Then where?" I try to sound calm despite getting hornier by the second.

His eyes don't leave mine. "Somewhere private."

The alcohol in my system dulls the hesitation just enough. "...I have a room." I confess and then we leave for the hotel room.

I'm not sure what to call him but I don't ask yet. Cecile usually talks about how strangers in clubs like these rarely offer their real names. With that in mind, I take the initiative to tell him, "You can call me Lia."

Not really conspicuous but it is my name though no one calls me Lia. Everyone usually calls me Aury.

He hums before saying seductively, "Lia."

Oh my goddess, that might be my favorite part of my name now. What about him made everything so sexually appealing? My body reacts to everything he does. Is it the alcohol? Will I remember this in the morning?

I fiddle with the keycard as we walk. I'm aware he's still just behind me because I can feel his heated gaze on me.

When we reach the room, I swipe the card and the door clicks open.

Immediately I walk in, I remember what tonight is supposed to mean. The soft glow of fake candlelight is still flickering against the walls and the rose petals sit untouched on the neatly made bed.

These are the preparations I made for Oliver who's happily cheating on me with his short beta. I didn't have time to take off the lingerie I bought either.

My aches so much all of a sudden that I almost fold into myself but then the door shuts behind me with a soft, final click.

My cheeks heat up because this probably isn't what the silver haired stripper behind me is expecting.

Speaking of the devil, he walks past me in slow sensual strides as his presence fills the room in a way that shifts everything.

To my absolute mortification, he laughs out. Even his laugh is beautiful. If I wasn't turning red, I'd appreciate it better.

"Romantic," he teases.

The word presses on my growing heartbreak. I stiffen slightly, and fist my hands in anger. "It was supposed to be," I reply before I can stop myself.

He turns his attention from the room to me. "...and now? Can't it still be romantic?"

"I barely know you," I defensively answered him.

"Yet you want me to dance for you," He lifts his hand to his face, and pulls the edge of his mask in one smooth motion. "And dare I say do more than that?"

I clear my throat and shuffle on my feet nervously. "The point is, it wasn't meant for this."

"Oh," he hums slowly. "Should I ask, Miss Lia?"

"No."

"Still want me to strip?" his voice drops an octane deeper, growing more alluring.

The question pulls me back. My cheeks warm slightly, but I don't look away this time. "Yes."

A brief pause and then he takes off his leather jacket covering his glistening torso. I've been tempted to stare more than once.

"I'll need you to sit for this princess," He walks forward like a prowling predator and I walk back to keep the space between us.

In a few steps, the bed hits the back of my legs and I yelp when he stands right in front of me. "Relax princess, I won't do anything you don't want me to. Just sit."

His breath fans my face and it smells of cigarettes and chocolate. Understanding what he wants, I take a sit on the edge of the bed.

"Good girl," he purrs seductively and I gulp and press my thighs together. A small moan almost escapes my mouth from the sensation but he doesn't hear it.

I didn't think I'd like hearing that so much. He grabs his phone and plays a loud sensual song. With the glow from the candles and the depth of his icy eyes, I'm enchanted.

The silver haired stripper slowly starts moving his hips as he almost straddles me yet his eyes remain on mine without distraction. I look down his chest and watch as he pants with every move.

He moves back and takes off his belt which he pulls taut before closing the space between us. He grabs both my hands and wraps the belt around them. I'm nervous yet I can't help but trust him.

He continues dancing yet I notice his movements are stiffer despite the confidence in them. "Hey...is this your first time dancing?"