Free Club Manhattan (Club Secrets USA Book 3) by Layla Wilcox

Chapter One

    David’s first day at Columbia med school was like kindergarten compared to his first day at Club Manhattan BDSM training school.  
    He cursed himself as he crossed Sixth Avenue, heading west. It was stupid not to have done a trial run or asked for directions. The subway ride took way longer than he expected, and he’d gotten off at the wrong stop. Now, his pace was slowed as he had to check street numbers while navigating the rush hour crowd on the sidewalks.  
    David saw the address he was looking for above a black metal door three steps down from street level, and he rushed toward it. The entry was locked. He looked around frantically and found a doorbell. Seconds later, a face appeared behind the small window in the door. David flashed the card he had been mailed, and a buzzer went off as the lock was released.
    He entered a dark vestibule and took several steps to a second door. Inside, he saw an empty nightclub, similar to the ones he was familiar with in Florida. He turned to the security guard that let him in.  
    “Hey, do you know where the class is being held?”
    The guard stepped forward into the space of the open door, filling it. “Go to the right. Follow the hallway to the end and go downstairs.”
    “Thanks, man,” David said, and sprinted in the direction the guard pointed.
    David didn’t see stairs, but there was another door at the end of the hallway. He opened it to find a dark, narrow stairway leading down. Holding on to the rail in the dim light, he raced down two steps at a time, landing in another dark vestibule with two doors. Both were closed and without markings on the outside.  
    David stopped briefly, took a deep breath, and opened the door on the left. Four women faced him. They were kneeling and had their arms behind their backs. Not one raised her eyes to look at him. A woman was standing in front of them, and she turned and gave David an icy stare.
    “Wrong room.” And she turned back as if he didn’t exist.
    “Sorry,” David said. Before he turned to leave, his eyes swept across the faces of the four kneeling women. One raised her eyes to meet his, but only for an instant, which was long enough to engage David’s senses. He felt an immediate pull in his groin in the blink of an eye that it took him to take in her silky raven hair and startling blue eyes.  
    Her gesture did not escape the eyes of the instructor, who immediately stepped in front of the woman.  
    “This is your one and only warning. Raise your eyes again without being told and you will be punished.”
    David quickly stepped back into the hallway and closed the door quietly. He didn’t want to be responsible for any punishment that would be bestowed upon someone else.
    He grasped the knob of the only other door. Three men sat in chairs facing him. A fourth chair was empty.
    David took in the back of the man standing before them. Unlike the instructor in the other room, this teacher did not turn around, but continued to address the group of men. Observing the man’s stance and the muscles in his arms and neck, David knew he was looking at a former military officer.
    With a sinking feeling, David suspected he was the one who would be on the receiving end of punishment in this room. He stood in the doorway, waiting for a break that would allow him to enter and sit without interrupting the class.
    He started to make a break for the chair during a lull in the man’s talk, but wasn’t fortunate enough to have his tardiness go unnoticed.
    “Impeccable punctuality is a condition of the program. This is a warning. If you are late again, you will be expelled.”
    David looked into the eyes of Master Tyson McVeigh and tried to hide his dismay.
    “Yes, sir,” he said, and nodded solemnly.
    “Do you think that’s a severe penalty for not adhering to rules?”
    David took a deep breath and decided to be honest. “Yes, sir.”  
    “You are here to learn to be a good Dom. Doms set the rules for subs