The Original Sin

Chapter Fourteen





That night, after painstakingly doing my hair and makeup, I shimmied into the dress and slipped into the world’s most perfect pair of shoes. I sighed and bit my lip as I looked down at them and smiled. I now owned a gorgeous pair of five inch pumps from my dream designer. I walked over to the full length mirror in my closet and gasped as I took in the dress. It hugged my curvy hips perfectly and accentuated my large chest with its tasteful plunging neckline. The shoes and accompanying mini-skirt did wonders for my long legs. I did a full circle in front of the mirror and for the first time in days, I genuinely felt happiness; I felt beautiful.

I heard a knock at my bedroom door and stepped carefully across the carpet to answer it.

“You look stunning,” Archer said as his eyes slowly perused my body, head to toe and back. “Absolutely breathtaking.”

I looked down and my hands and felt my cheeks flush hot at the sincerity of his words. “Thanks,” I bit my lip as I finally looked up at him. Archer was wearing my favorite charcoal gray suit with a white dress shirt underneath. “You look very handsome as well.”

Archer held out his elbow for me and I timidly took it, allowing him to shut the door behind me.

The drive to the club was relatively quiet. Archer and I rode in the Escalade and were accompanied by our guardian Emrick. Archer fielded calls on his cell phone and talked with other business men about their financing arrangements most of the time. It was all very boring and I was glad when we finally got to the club. I was looking forward to seeing my dancers and working with them tonight.

Archer took my hand as soon as we were inside and led me up to his office. “I need you to work payroll tonight, if you don’t mind,” he said, sitting me down behind his desk with a secretive smile on his face. “Whether or not you’re finished, come down at 9pm.”

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“You’ll see,” he smiled as he left.

I sighed and shook my head as I immediately delved into payroll. I didn’t mind doing this part of my job, but I hadn’t seen Rachel in days and I wanted to see how she and Brian were faring in their new relationship.

It was a few minutes after 9pm when I finally stopped and closed the office laptop. I locked up the completed checks in Archer’s desk drawer and made my way down his private spiral staircase.

When I reached the second floor, Archer immediately spotted me and shoved a drink in my hand as he escorted me down to the first floor.

“What’s going on?” I asked, feeling a bit apprehensive at the unusual evening.

“Cupcake!” Nikki shouted as I reached the bottom of the stairs. I saw her shoulder her way through the crowd and up to me. She threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly to her. “I was starting to think you’d never come down.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, shocked to see her. Nikki seemed to work constantly, as did I, and we rarely saw each other lately. I took in her tight leather pants and halter outfit with an approving smile. Nikki looked great tonight.

“Archer invited me, Lyric, and a few other people out for the night. He said that you had been working too hard lately and needed to have some fun. How great is he BTW? Rich, handsome, AND thoughtful!” she smiled brightly as she led me across the floor. “He said everything was on the house, so we’ve been drinking it up while we waited for you.”

I turned back to look at Archer, but he was already upstairs and talking with a group of men in suits. I silently reminded myself to thank him later.

“You won’t believe who’s here!” she squealed, drawing my attention back to her, as we finally stopped at one of the RSVP only, twenty-person party booths in the corner.

I looked around the table and saw Dean, Dylan, Zephyr who had his arm around a smitten Sissy Schneider, Lyric, my ex-boss Dan, my favorite ex-coworker Angel, and to my horrified surprise, my mother Grace Morrison.

“Mama?” I asked, shocked.

She looked over and smiled at me tightly as she set down her drink and scooted out of the booth to hug me. “Hello, darling,” she said fondly as she hugged me to her. “You look…very grown up. Did this dress not come with a shawl?” she asked as she took in the small straps, my bare arms, and visible cleavage.

I immediately flushed hot in embarrassment and took a deep breath as I tried to calm my racing heart. I was still in shock. I couldn’t believe my mother, of all people, was here tonight. I gazed around the club at the scantily dressed dancers, cages, and clientele and I looked back over at her with slightly fearful eyes.

“Interesting choice of careers, darling,” she pursed her lips, obviously displeased with me working here.

“Um…” I mumbled with wide eyes right before Dean suddenly scooped me up into a bear hug.

“Hey, gorgeous!” he rumbled deeply as he sat me down and held me at arm’s length. “Good God, that dress is amazing. Whoever bought it for you needs a pat on the back. They really did a huge solid for all us horny guys.”

I smacked his arm in horror and looked back at my mother. She crossed her arms over her chest, unamused, and waited patiently as everyone else greeted me.

As soon as I was able, I excused myself and grabbed my mother’s elbow. “Let’s go get you another drink, mama.”

“I believe that’s a good idea, darling,” she said as we turned and walked over to the first floor bar.

Hunter cleared us two barstools at the end of the bar as my mother glared at him with distaste.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, shaking my head. My mother rarely came to Austin because she pretty much worked constantly and I was still in a deep state of shock at her presence.

“I got a phone call from your new boss, Mr. Rhys,” she said as she stared into my eyes, searching for something. “He told me that you had been doing an amazing job as his Executive Assistant, and he wanted to gather a small group of your closest friends to thank you for a job well done. He said that you could use a visit from me.” I swallowed the huge lump in my throat as I listened. “He is a very persuasive man, that Archer,” she pursed her lips. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer and even paid for my airfare and hotel before he bothered to contact me.”

I nodded my head, fully understanding where she was coming from. With Archer, you never really had a choice. You did as he asked whether or not you actively chose to.

“He’s very high-handed,” I said as I took a deep breath.

“Very,” she cocked one eyebrow.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, mother,” I smiled tightly as I reached over to hold her hand. “I’ve missed you so much. I haven’t seen you since graduation and I’m so sorry I haven’t called as much as I should. Things here have just been a little crazy.”

Her eyes softened towards me and she smiled fondly at me. “I’ve missed you as well, darling. Your great aunt Anne has been asking about you. You missed her 79th birthday party last week.”

I cringed as I squeezed my eyes shut. Oh God! The party! “Oh, mama…I’m so sorry,” I looked down at our clasped hands. “Please forgive me. So much has been happening…I-I completely forgot.”

She looked over at Hunter and Lochlan behind the bar and pursed her lips with distaste again before turning back to me. “I can see that, dear. Did you really have to take a job at a fetish club?”

“Mama, please…don’t be mad at me,” I begged fearfully. I couldn’t stand to see disapproval in my mother’s eyes. I had always strived for excellence and her approval growing up. Her disappointment tore greatly at my already damaged heart.

“Darling,” she said, gripping my hand tighter, her eyes pleading. “You are better than this place. You are a brilliant, beautiful, college educated, talented young woman who should be working in city museums or at a university teaching. You do not belong in an environment such as this.”

“Mother,” I began, attempting to reason with her, but she cut me off.

“Skye Everleigh Morrison, I did not work hard my entire life providing for you, teaching you, and guiding you, to have you stoop to such a level,” she scolded. “I raised you better than this, young lady. This place…it’s not normal. It’s disturbing.”

“Not it’s not, mother,” I said as I took my hand out of hers and straightened my back indignantly. “It’s just a style of music and dress. The people working here are as normal and well raised as you and I. They love their families, their lives, and they have morals. What you see here isn’t a fetish club, mama. No sexual acts are performed and/or even simulated. Everyone remains dressed and well behaved. It’s just a club mother, I promise.”

She sighed as she looked over at Hunter and Lochlan again. She pursed her lips tightly and frowned before turning back to me. “Still, darling…I do not like you working here. Perhaps I’ll make a few calls when I get home and see if we can’t get you into something more…normal.”

“Mother, I don’t need your help,” I sighed, grabbing her hand again, pleading with her. “This is only temporary, okay. I’ve already given me two week notice and I’ll be out of here soon. I was thinking about talking to Dan to see if I could get my old job back at Drop Kick’s while I worked on finding something else.”

My mother’s eyes widened at the news. “Really? You’re quitting? What made you change your mind? And, I’ve always liked that Dan. I don’t understand why the two of you never dated. He’s very fond of you, you know.”

I swallowed hard and looked away. My mother had this uncanny ability to read every emotion on my face and I didn’t want her to see the pain etched deep within it. Part of me didn’t want to leave, even after all the things that had happened to me. It wasn’t just the $85,000 a year either. “The Mausoleum just isn’t the right fit for me. And as far as Dan is concerned, Dan is like a brother to me. I love him, mama, but I don’t think I could ever be in love with him. Our relationship just isn’t like that.”

Grace reached over and pulled me to her, hugging me tightly. “Darling,” she sighed in relief. “I’m so happy to hear that you’re quitting. But you don’t have to wait two weeks; you can quit tonight. I’ll support you until we can find you another job.”

“No, mama,” I shook my head, pulling back from her. “I can’t do that. That’s extremely unprofessional. And you know I can’t take your money. The townhome you bought for me was more than enough.”

“I don’t like these people,” she said, leaning in to whisper in my ear. “There is something about them...”

I bit my bottom lip, part of me feeling the exact same way, but I would never admit that to her. “They’re not all bad.”

“What can I get you lovely ladies to drink?” Hunter asked suddenly, and we guiltily jerked back from each other.

“Uh…mother, this is Hunter,” I said, politely introducing them. “Hunter, this is my mother Dr. Grace Evelyn Morrison.”

“Doctor,” Hunter smiled and bowed his head politely. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hunter,” my mother returned the motion but without the smile.

“My mother will have a cosmopolitan and I’ll take a margarita rocks, please”

“Darling…the calories,” she chided and I swallowed hard before changing my order to a rum and diet coke.

“Coming right up,” he said, his brow furrowed at her comment to me, and went to make the drinks.

“How was your flight here?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.

“It was very nice,” she said, surprising me. “Mr. Rhys arranged for first class accommodations. He even booked me a suite at the swanky Driskill Hotel a few blocks from here. Sadly, I cannot stay very long. I’m in the middle of some important research and I left my assistant in charge of things while I came to attend to you.”

“I appreciate you coming, mama,” I said, feeling guilty that she had to drop her work to come here. I knew how time consuming her experiments were and I knew how devoted she was to their outcomes.

“Darling, I love you,” she said, reaching out to cup my cheek; her eyes soft and affectionate. “You are my only child and I couldn’t be happier to have such a responsible, terrific, caring, and beautiful daughter. I know I don’t always tell you, but you are the very best thing that I’ve ever done. I consider you my greatest accomplishment. Having you brought a sense of joy and peace into my heart that I had previously never known. Your birth completed my life Skye, and I couldn’t be prouder of what you have accomplished with yours,” she said before looking briefly around the club, “present situation excluded, of course.”

“Of course,” I said as I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her neck.

“Here you go,” Hunter said, setting our drinks down in front of us. “Can I get you ladies anything else?”

“That will be all,” my mother said sharply, disengaging from our hug. She did not like Hunter but I couldn’t figure out why. My mother had never acted this way towards anyone before…well, not that I ever saw.

“Dr. Morrison,” Archer spoke behind me. “I do hope you are enjoying your visit to our little establishment.” I glanced over my shoulder at him and warned Archer to behave with a flare of my eyes.

“It’s very…unique,” my mother replied diplomatically as she picked up her drink and took a small sip.

“I’m so glad you could come tonight,” Archer smiled tightly down at her. It was painfully apparent that he didn’t like her very much. I wonder what happened between them.

“Thank you for inviting her, Archer. That was very kind of you.”

Archer looked down at me warmly and smiled. “I thought you could use a night off spent with friends.”

I can’t believe you invited my mother here! I silently yelled to him. I told her I was working at another bar but didn’t tell her what kind. She’s been giving me the third degree for the past fifteen minutes! She thinks I work in a fetish club, damn it! This is all over her head, Archer. She’s too conservative for this. I appreciate the thought, but I could kind of kill you right now.

Archer stifled a smile as he listened to my silent rant. “Will you be staying until closing tonight, Doctor?”

“Sadly no, Mr. Rhys,” she said with pursed lips as she took one last sip of her Cosmo, set it back down, and brushed her hands together. “I have to catch the 5am flight back to Houston. Work simply cannot wait any longer than that.”

“I understand, madam,” Archer said, bowing his head.

“Are you leaving, mama?” I asked. Part of me didn’t want her to go but the other couldn’t usher her out the door fast enough. I was horrified that she had seen firsthand what kind of club I worked in. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t ashamed of The Mausoleum. It was a club that I would have patroned had I not worked here, but having my mother here was a different story. I’m a firm believer in the saying “what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her”.

“Yes, darling,” she said, leaning in to kiss both of my cheeks. “This music is atrocious. I think I’ve had my fill.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking down at my clutched hands.

“Don’t worry dear. I’ll make a few calls and inform you of my progress next week. I love you, Skye. You take care of yourself now.”

“Will do, mama,” I said, hugging her neck again. I watched her clutch her purse tightly to her as she dodged one rowdy customer after another, all the way to the front door. Once she exited, I turned back to Archer with a sigh.

“That was the most nerve-wracking visit I’ve ever had from her,” I shook my head. “Oh my God…I almost peed myself when I saw her sitting in that booth. Don’t ever surprise me like that again…not where my mother is concerned. Dr. Grace Morrison definitely does not belong in The Mausoleum.”

Archer laughed and slung his arm around my neck, escorting me to the dance floor. “I thought I was doing a good thing. You had been so depressed…I honestly thought a visit from your mother was just the thing you needed. I had no idea your mother was so uptight.”

“She’s not uptight,” I defended, elbowing him in the ribs. “Well, okay, she’s a bit uptight but she’s not used to seeing this part of my world. I’m her little girl. I’ve always tried to keep my wilder side hidden from her. I love her, adore her even, but she doesn’t need to know every little thing about me. If I told her most of the things I did in college, she’d have a damn coronary.”

Archer laughed as he led me to the center of the lit up dance floor. “I’d love to hear your stories from college,” he said sexily, suggestively wagging his eyebrows.

“You couldn’t handle half of them, baby,” I smirked before downing the rest of my strong drink. “Trust me.”

“Oh God,” he purred, slowly licking his lips as he took my empty glass and handed it off to some random patron. “You have to tell me now. Did you have a little girl-on-girl experimentation? A few threesomes?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” I cocked my eyebrow and grinned as I grabbed his tie and pulled him closer to me.

Our bodies ground seductively together as we moved to the hard hitting industrial beats. I lost myself to the music and his strong vampire pheromones and soon found myself thinking about the sexual dream I had starring him and his massive man-piece.

I licked my lips as I looked up into his burning ice blue eyes. His desire was written all over his face.

“If you keep projecting those thoughts, I’ll have no choice but to take you up to my office and make that dream of yours a reality.”

“I have guests, Archer,” I tsked at him playfully before looking around the dance floor and spotting all of them in various forms of dance.

“I don’t care,” he said, spinning me around and pulling my back up against his front. “You know how much I want you. After seeing that dream of yours, it’s been hard not to take you to my bed and keep you there for days, exploring and licking every inch of your tight little body.”

I did want Archer, but I also didn’t. I was all too aware of what had transpired between us during the past two weeks; the anger, the betrayal, the distrust, and the hate were sitting down deep in my heart and I had worked hard today to keep them there.

We continued to grind together to a relatively slow song and I was painfully aware of his raging erection at my back. I wickedly wiggled harder against him, enjoying teasing him, and heard a moan of desire escape from him as he pulled me tighter to his chest and began nibbling my neck.

I put my arms over my head and wrapped them around the back of his neck as I pulled his head closer to mine. Our dancing was bringing back memoires of the first time we danced together shortly after I was hired and our first kiss. My lower abdomen clenched tight with desire as I closed my eyes and lost myself to his soft, hungry kisses. I desperately wanted to erase every bad thing that had happened between us with each one. I moaned when he splayed his hand across my flat belly and started to inch it lower. I badly wanted him to touch the slick, wet fire that was raging between my legs.

“Damn it, Skye,” he purred deeply as he let go of me and spun me around to face him. “I can smell how wet you are, baby. I can’t wait any longer. I want you so badly.” I nodded my head in complete understanding, wanting him just as much, and wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on tiptoes in my new Louboutin’s to kiss him.

I heard someone clear their throat behind me and I stopped my momentum just before our collided together. “Mind if I cut in?”

Archer narrowed his eyes dangerously and growled lowly in warning as I turned around. Dean was standing there with a big smile on his face, holding two shots of tequila in offering. A whoosh of air left my lungs as I slowly came out of Archer’s all-consuming pheromone fog.

“You came bearing gifts,” I laughed as I took the first shot and quickly threw it back, “how thoughtful.”

“We were in the middle of something, wolf,” Archer growled, pulling me back to him.

“The whole club could see that, vampire,” he narrowed his eyes at him. “Don’t you think you’ve monopolized the party girl enough for now? There are others who would like to dance with her.”

Archer opened his mouth to argue, but I swiftly placed a chaste kiss on his cheek to silence him. “I should visit with the others. It’s rude of me not to. Would you like to sit with us at our booth?”

Archer sighed and frustratedly ran his fingers through his soft brown hair. “No. I have guests upstairs that I should check in with. We’ll continue this later, babe” he said, smacking my ass playfully before turning to leave.

“I thought he was going to f*ck you right here on the floor,” Dean frowned his disapproval. It was no secret that he didn’t like Archer; well, all vampires for that matter.

I took the second shot of Cuervo from him and threw it back just as quickly as the first. I looked up at him to see that he was holding the tip of a lime wedge between his teeth. “Care for some lime?” he purred around it, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

“You must have a death wish,” I chuckled, shaking my head, as I took the lime out of his mouth with my hand and immediately tossed it into mine, sucking on the sour meat of the wedge, relieving it of all its juices.

“A boy can dream, can’t he?” he laughed as he threw his arm around me and led us back to the booth.

I chatted, laughed, drank, and danced the night away with my friends. It felt amazing to spend a normal night out with no drama. I leaned that Zephyr and Sissy had just begun seeing each other and they both seemed really happy. So did Nikki and Lyric. Lyric was a really interesting guy and I found myself admiring his dedication to his beliefs and way of life. I had never met anyone so devoted to something before. He was an amazing conversationalist and philanthropist and I could immediately see why Nikki was so smitten with him.

As I visited with Dan, I learned that he was seeing Fiona, one of the bartenders at Drop Kick Dan’s. I thought he could do a lot better than her, but I kept that to myself and tried to be genuinely happy for him. Angel whispered to me that she didn’t like the idea of the two of them together either and we bonded over the fact. She told me all the latest gossip that was happening over at Dan’s bar and I found myself wishing I was back working there. Everything she complained about seemed so normal compared to what I had been going through over here at The Mausoleum. I envied their problems and I reminded myself to call Dan tomorrow and ask him about getting my old job back.

Dean and Dylan invited me to go skydiving with them next weekend and I immediately took them up on the offer. I had always wanted to do it, but never found anyone brave enough to do it with me. As free and adventurous as Nikki was, she drew the line at free-falling out of a perfectly functional airplane.

As the night wore on, my guests dwindled down. Soon, it was just Dean and I splitting our time between dancing and drunken games of quarters. I found out quickly that he was much better at the game than I was. Soon I was seeing double and had to call uncle. Archer joined us right before the club closed and was actually civil to Dean. They talked about their recent investments and land deals and I quickly became bored with them. Luckily the lights went up, signaling closing time, and I got up and hugged Dean tightly.

“Thank you so much for coming out tonight, Dean,” I slurred against his chest. “You’re such a good friend.”

“You are so wasted, Skye,” he laughed as he squeezed me to him. “I’m glad I got to spend some time with you. You’re fun as hell.”

“Right back at ‘cha!” I said enthusiastically before tripping over my own feet.

“I think you need to get this one to bed,” Dean laughed to Archer, before quickly correcting himself. “Her bed, that is.”

“We were just starting to get along, wolf,” he shook his head, only slightly unamused, “and then you had to go and open your big mouth.”

Dean laughed heartily as he turned and started to follow the crowd out. “The better to eat you with, fanger,” he teased over his shoulder. “Take care of her. Goodnight, Skye. See you next weekend.”

“What’s next weekend?” Archer asked me.

“The plane,” I drunkenly blinked up at him and tried to explain with wobbly hand gestures, “with the thing and the falling.”

“Dean’s right,” he threw his head back and laughed. “We do need to get you to bed. You’re absolutely wasted.”

I sighed and agreed with him as I leaned heavily into his side and allowed him to wrap his arms around me and lead me over to the first floor bar.

“Lochlan, can you get her a tall glass of water, please?” Archer asked as he gently maneuvered me onto one of the barstools.

“Sure thing, boss,” he chuckled as he took in my state.

“I’ll be right back, babe,” Archer said softly as he kissed my forehead.

I slowly drank my water as Archer went upstairs to close out a few things. After a few minutes, Trey came over and took the chair beside me.

“Good God almighty,” he drawled in his feminine southern lilt. “I’m picking up incredibly strong waves coming off you. Someone is well past inebriated. I’ll catch a buzz just sitting next to you, darlin’.”

“You’re a cheap date,” I laughed into my water, swaying slightly.

Trey laughed at my lame joke as he motioned to Hunter for a drink.

Soon, the cleaning was complete and my glass of water was empty. My eyelids began to grow heavy and when it was time to leave, I found that walking was damn near impossible. It wasn’t from being drunk, as I had started to sober up; it was from being absolutely exhausted.

Archer draped his coat over my shoulders and gently lifted me in his arms. I put my arms around his neck, snuggled into his cool chest, and allowed him to carry me to the Escalade. I curled up in his lap and quickly drifted off to sleep.