Carnivore Club Christmas Morning by Kate Richards

Prequel to Christmas Afternoon Delight

The little man came outside the Carnivore Club and patted his gray, uniform shirt pocket, then his pants, breathing a sigh of relief when he found what he was looking for and pulled out a hard pack of Marlboro Reds with a lighter handily stowed inside the box. The flick sounded loud in the pre-dawn stillness, and he drew in a deep lungful of the pungent smoke, coughing on the exhale.

“Gotta give those up, one day, you know.”

The voice made the old man jump and then turn to see a familiar face headed down the sidewalk toward him. “I didn’t expect to see you here, Barry.” He grinned, baring nicotine stained teeth in the light of the mini-mall’s flickering neon signs. Bob’s Liquor and Tobacco, Granny’s Doughnuts, Nails-4-U.

“No, I couldn’t sleep, Sam. I decided to take a walk and watch the Christmas sunrise. Looks to be a pretty one.”

Sam shook his head. “I almost didn’t recognize you in ordinary clothes. It’s always either your uniform or your club clothes.”

Barry leaned against the doorway at the still-closed Bob’s. “I’m off duty—in both cases—at the moment. But you’re still in uniform, buddy. Shouldn’t you be getting home to the missus for your Christmas soon? I don’t want Angelica mad at us again.”

Dropping the cigarette butt to the sidewalk, Sam ground it out under his low work boot heel and picked it up again. “Can’t be making a mess…I’d only have to pick it up.” He reached inside the open door behind him and flipped it into a sand filled ashtray to the right of the door. “No, I’m almost done. The party went on pretty late last night. You weren’t here, were you?”

“No, I was called in. Somebody’s Christmas spirit got a little out of hand and, well, I had to go to their party instead.” He grimaced, standing straight again, as though he was in his SWAT uniform instead of his casual morning attire.

“Hope everything turned out okay. Why do some people have to ruin the holidays for everyone else? “

“Yeah, in the end nobody got hurt, and finally the situation was straightened out, the two neighbors sobered up a little and when we left they had their arms around each other’s waists singing carols. The biggest danger was that their wives would kill them for upsetting the kiddies on Christmas Eve.”

Sam stared at him, tilting his head back to meet the big guy’s eyes. “For that they called SWAT? A neighbor’s misunderstanding?”

“Well, seems like the misunderstanding was much smaller than the old lady on the corner who called thought. She told the dispatcher there were weapons of mass destruction…and the desk sergeant didn’t want to take any chances.

“Did they?”

“Did they what? Oh, the weapons?” Barry chuckled. “Seems they were brandishing giant candy canes from somebody’s lawn decorations. Just a case of misinformation. But we’re always glad when everybody goes home safe.”

“You’re a better man than me,” Sam turned to go back into the building. “I’d have killed em, or let Angie do it. Ruining Christmas Eve for all you guys. I guess I’ll see ya.”

“Sam?” Barry followed him inside. “Can I buy you a Christmas doughnut before you go home? I’ll send a dozen to your wife, to make up for the time.” He looked around at the immaculate club. “You’d never know there was a party here. You do good work.”

“Thanks, Barry. But the Carnivore Club is a good place to work. Better than the other places I clean up after. Seems like everybody tries to leave it nice for me, even the bathrooms. I appreciate that.”

“It probably doesn’t hurt that you’re a founding member.” Barry stepped out onto the polished dance floor with the iridescent disco ball hanging over his head. “Look at all the decorations, the tree, sure must have been pretty last night. Everybody here?”

“All but you and a couple of people who have family out of town. It was nice. Me and Angie danced and partied until the last of ‘em went home. That nice Dave and Nancy gave her a ride. That way I could start cleaning up right away.”

“Angie is still a really nice looking woman. You’ve been together how long now?”

“Over thirty years,” Sam said, sinking into a chair by the door. “We met right here, you know. The first year the club was open.”

“I don’t think I realized that you met here.” Barry leaned on the bar. Sam loved to tell the story and he wasn’t gonna stop him now. Not on Christmas.

“Yep, right here. I was tending bar. We didn’t have any paid employees back in those days. Just took turns taking care of things ourselves, so we rotated duties.” He peered at Barry, his eyes misty with the past. “She was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen, a real disco queen. A natural redhead, you know? I was always a sucker for a redhead, and she come in with some guy in a white suit, real bossy type. No offense intended, Barry. He wasn’t a Dom, just a woman-abusing bastard.”

“So, Angelica came in?” Barry knew he’d better move the story along, or Angelica herself would be at the door and it wouldn’t be pretty. Dom or not, he didn’t consider himself a match for that wild tempered vixen.

“Yeah, she did.” He drew a deep breath, looking across the room as though he could see the scene in front of his eyes. “She was wearing some kind of clingy black dress, not short or anything, not like the girls here wear now, but you could sure see what she had to offer.” A smile quirked his lips. “And I only wished she’d offer it to me.”

He straightened his shoulders, looking younger somehow. “I watched for a while. Her date dropped her at a table and went off to flirt with some other girl at the bar, and she looked so lost sitting there, nothing to drink or anything, just all alone. I wasn’t about to pass up that opportunity, so I mixed up a couple of tequila sunrises and just strolled over and dropped down in the empty chair across from her.

“There she sat, all that bright red, long hair, and high too, way high up, like girls did it in those days. She was twenty-one, only just old enough to get in, and even then you had to have a member bring you. That guy wasn’t here long, but long enough to bring my Angie to me.

“Anyway, I told her my name, and offered her one of my special tequila sunrises—I put five different tequilas in ’em, you know…”

“That’s why we have bartenders, now, Sam. You almost got us sued a couple of times.”

“Heh, heh…anyway,” His chuckle shook his thin shoulders. “I was a bit older than her, but she had, well, still has, green eyes like a cat, with a dangerous sparkle in ’em. That dress was low enough in front to give me a look at what I wanted to see more of, and everything about her said sex. But she was kind of nervous. Well, pretty soon I had her laughing at those old corny jokes I like to tell, then she asked me to dance.”

“’Sam…umm…I’ve never been to a club before. I seem to have lost Gerard, but I would love to dance.’ I can hear it in my mind, just like it was yesterday. We went out on the floor and I tried to Hustle—that made her laugh too. And just like that, we never looked back, either one of us.”

“Sam, I never sounded like that in my life. That high-pitched girly voice.”

Barry didn’t doubt it. Angelica Brown had the deepest, most sultry voice he’d ever heard on a woman. Even in her fifties she had a presence that could make most men very aware of how their pants fit… More mature curves, the sparkling green cat’s eyes, and a sway to her hips that was sexier than almost any other woman in the club.

Her red sweater showed off the same famous cleavage that had won her husband, and he knew Sam didn’t mind if he admired it. The old guy was proud of his beautiful wife. “Nice to see you Angie. Merry Christmas.” Barry gave her a quick, friendly kiss, as he knew she expected, then she went over to stand in front of Sam.

“Why are you still here? The kids expect us for breakfast and then I have your gift.” She winked at Barry then looked back at her husband. “It’s for later, after we do what social niceties require.”

“Angie, you know you love Christmas with the grandchildren.”

“Of course I do, dear, but I also like our own special celebrations.” She grinned and her eyes glittered with a passion that Barry envied. Whatever they had been when they were younger—and there were stories around the club—they kept their bedroom activities pretty much to the two of them these days. But it didn’t seem as if that was a problem—the fire between them was as hot now as ever, if the glazed look in Sam’s eyes as he gazed at his bride was any indication.

Barry sighed and Angelica turned to him. “You need to get going too, I believe?”

“What?” he asked, startled.

Sam chuckled. “You can’t keep anything from my wife, so don’t even try.”

“Nope, there are no secrets from Angie.” She tilted her head and looked him tip to toe. “You need to get ready for Lily. She’s expecting our big, strong Dom—go rock her world, dear.”

He shook his head. “Is it ridiculous that I’m kind of nervous? How many subs have I been with since you’ve known me? It’s what I do, how I’m made.”

“You’ll be wonderful. Show her what the Carnivore Club is all about.”

He nodded. “I have a little time, you two go on. I’ll lock up.”

Watching them leave, Barry felt a bit of pain in his heart. Sam stopped her on the sidewalk and gave her a kiss as deep and thorough as any new couple might share. They were so good together, and it all started in the Carnivore Club, where kink was king and anything went.

He wondered what surprise Angie had for Sam.

With a shrug, he dismissed the couple now driving away to visit with their grandchildren. They had their life and he had his. He turned off the lights and locked the door, walking away into his life, his celebration—his Lily.

Kate Richards is a multi-published author who can be found at katerichards09@gmail.com and loves to hear from readers. She’s planning a series of Carnivore Club stories showing how the denizens—members—spend their year, holidays and seasons, parties and darker moments. Find out more about Barry and his Lily! Buy the first book in the series, Christmas Afternoon Delight at 1Place For Romance or Amazon