Blissful Awakenings

by Penny May

  “I’ll explain that in a minute, but first,” She walked over and picked up a small pink box from the makeup vanity and returned to Courtney. It opened on hinges like a jewelry box, and she lifted out a thin smartwatch. “This will give you access to this apartment as well as the other areas we’ll visit today. Your new bank account with your contest winnings is also tied to this, so you can use it like a credit card anywhere within the building. It also works as a fitness and emotions tracker.”

  Courtney raised an eyebrow. “It can track emotions?”

  “To a certain extent. It’s really tracking your heart rate more than anything else, but it’s pretty sensitive and has been found to be fairly accurate.” She held the smartwatch out and Courtney complied, letting Olivia put the watch on her. Once on, Olivia added, “It’s also voice activated, so we’re going to set that up now.” She pushed a button on the side and held up a card from the box, whispering, “Say these words clearly into the watch.”

  “I am Courtney Bliss. I live in room 3901 of Pleasure Temple.”

  The watch beeped.

  “Good. Next, we’ll set up your safe word. Come on.”

  “My what?”

  Olivia just smiled and beckoned Courtney to follow her out of the bedroom and back to the foyer. Here, she paused at a screen embedded in the wall that Courtney had completely missed when they’d entered the suite. Underneath the screen was a smaller sliding door that had a glowing green button to the right side.

  “Tell it, ‘OCS on,’” Olivia said.

  “Um, OCS on.”

  The screen immediately lit up with the pyramid logo for Pleasure Temple which dissolved into a screen full of icons.

  “This is the On Call System—OCS for short. This is kind of the bread and butter of this whole operation. You can use it to request room service or a partner for the night.” Olivia clicked on the heart icon, and it pulled up a new screen. “See? You can select a partner by their physical characteristics or by their sexual interests. Mostly, these partners are other guests here at pleasure temple, but we do have a few employees here who specialize in specific kinds of pleasure like BDSM. It allows us to have more control of the environment for our guests and keeps everyone safe. Once you select a partner, you can set a day and time for your tryst.”

  Olivia’s tone was so matter of fact that it was difficult for Courtney to feel too awkward about the fact that she was talking about choosing sexual partners. Then again, was this really so different from some of the dating apps out there? At least here, there was no beating around the bush about what you were meeting up for.

  “It’s important that, no matter who you decide to partner with, that you have a safe word during your stay. Make sure it’s something you’re not going to accidentally say during conversation because, as you’ll see in a second, the whole system responds to the safe word. Say the word once, and you’ll get flashing lights and a loud tone that lets your partner know that you’re no longer comfortable with what they’re doing. Say the word twice quickly, and you’ll activate the lights and sound along with staff members coming to help you.”

  At Courtney’s wide-eyed look, Olivia quickly reassured her, “It’s really rare that someone needs that kind of help here. The best practice is to tell your partner you don’t feel comfortable anymore, but if they’re too caught up in the moment, it’s nice to have more options and know that help is there if you need it.” She nodded once as if that was all the explanation that Courtney would need before continuing on. “Now, we’re going to set up your safe word so that I know you’re all squared away. Do you have a word you want to use?”

  Courtney started to say no, then realized that she had the perfect word.

  “Xylophone.”

  “Good one. Hold on one second…” She hit a few buttons on the screen, turned and held up one finger to wait, hit another button, then pointed at Courtney.

  “Xylophone,” Courtney said loud and clear.

  The screen lit up with a green check mark and Courtney’s smartwatch vibrated.

  “Excellent. That means it’s accepted the new phrase. Now we’ll test it.” She hit another button. “Okay, go ahead.”

  “Xylophone.”

  The lights in the room suddenly flashed red and yellow while a loud tone played over the speaker system. Courtney wondered if something like that would be enough to deter someone from continuing to do something she didn’t like.

  Not that it mattered since she didn’t really plan to get involved with anyone in that kind of way while here.

  Olivia hit another button on the screen and the flashing stopped. “Okay. Moving on. If you order anything like food, sex toys, etcetera, you’ll get it here.” She waved at the door beneath the screen. “If the button is green, that means your request has arrived.” She pushed the green button and the door slid open to reveal Courtney’s small rolling suitcase and Dot’s bag of toys and travel cat food.

  “Oh! It’s a dumbwaiter!” Courtney said.

  “Exactly, but we generally just call it the delivery system.” She shrugged then continued on, “If you request something that’s too big to fit inside the compartment or is something that needs to be set up for you, like a sex-swing, then that will be delivered by staff at your requested time. A lot of people request room cleaning and large or complicated deliveries to be done while they’re not in the suite. You don’t have to leave, but I’ve found that it’s less awkward all around if you give staff privacy to do their jobs.”

  “I can only imagine…” Courtney murmured still stuck on the idea of a sex swing. She’d heard of them of course, but who actually used that kind of stuff?

  “Okay, I think that’s everything. Why don’t I give you half-an-hour to decompress with Dot?

  Then we can do a quick tour and end with the SIDI. That should give William enough time to set everything up for you.”

  “Sounds good.” Courtney forced herself to smile though she was seriously nervous about the whole testing thing.

  Olivia left, and Courtney walked around the suite again after depositing her suitcase in the bedroom. This was...surreal. Her hotel in New York had been nice, but this was next level living. She ended up at the large window in the living room next to the balcony doors, looking out at the Vegas strip and the crowds of people walking around down there. She’d never been to Vegas before. Maybe she’d take a little money and try gambling. It might be fun as long as she didn’t spend too much. Ten thousand dollars might seem like a lot, but she knew it could go pretty quick if she got in over her head.

  A light, pleasant tone sounded from the speaker near the OCS screen. She walked over and found that it said she had an incoming call though it didn’t say who the caller was.

  She accepted the call and suddenly Bo’s face filled the screen. Her breath caught a little in her throat. She couldn’t seem to get used to speaking with this man whose face she usually saw on television or magazine covers.

  “Hi Courtney. I just wanted to welcome you again to the Temple. I was in a bit of a rush back there and didn’t feel like it was a proper welcome.”

  “Oh, no. It was fine,” Courtney said, putting on a smile she hoped wasn’t too nervous.

  “I wondered if there was anything in particular that you wished to do while you were here?”

  Courtney hesitated, and Bo immediately realized the question sounded like he meant sexually. His face reddened slightly which was…alarming. He was supposed to be Bo Ryans, the unflappable billionaire. Surely, she wasn’t making him feel flustered?

  “I mean,” he quickly explained, “I wasn’t sure if you’d been to Vegas before or not. I just wondered if there were any tourist attractions you might be interested to visit. We have agreements with most of the surrounding hotels for seats at their shows and performances.”

  Courtney’s smile lost its nervous edge. “That would be wonderful! I’ve never been here and was just thinking that it might be fun to see Pirates of Penzance. I’ve also never actuall
y gambled before, so I’d like to try that. Not a lot, of course, but it’s the Vegas experience right?”

  “That it is,” Bo said, an idea forming in his mind that he had no business or time to make happen, yet he found himself offering anyways. “How about a showing tomorrow night? I’m sure we can scrounge up some tickets.”

  “That would be great! But only if it’s no trouble. I can wait for another night if the tickets are difficult to get.”

  He put his hand to his chin in thought. The move made him seem a little more personable to Courtney.

  “I’m not sure if you realize, but the news is still caught up in your story. It might be difficult for you to go to one of the casinos with the general public. We do have some tables here that you could try your hand at, with or without the real betting aspect. Up to you. I’m not a fan of slot machines—it’s just mindless betting on luck if you ask me—but if you’d like to try them, maybe we could set up a more private room at one of the casinos?”

  “Oh, I’m sure people won’t be that excited by me going to a casino,” she said, and for a brief moment, forgot who she was talking to and fell into normal conversation. “I might take you up on the offer to practice other types of gambling though, like blackjack or poker, before I try them at a real casino and end up losing my shirt.” As she finished speaking, she suddenly remembered who she was talking to and clamped her mouth shut before she could say anything else, afraid of looking like a babbling idiot.

  Bo isn’t your friend, she firmly reminded herself. He’s just doing the big CEO thing because you won his contest. He’ll forget about you by next week.

  “I’m sure you’d be fine at the card tables, but I’ll set something up.”

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it,” Courtney said, trying for a more businesslike approach.

  Bo paused at her new tone, wondering if he’d somehow offended her or if she was just trying to put some distance between them. Maybe she wasn’t as interested in him as he’d thought? He could have sworn they’d both had the same feelings when he’d held her against him after she’d stumbled out of their shared car the other night in New York. Maybe he’d been wrong?

  Now it was his turn to force a smile in order to hide his confusion. “Great. I’ll set up some gambling sessions with one of our staff members. It will appear on your calendar in the next few hours. You can just adjust the schedule if it doesn’t work for you.” He paused again, then decided to go for it. “I’m sure I can find tickets for tomorrow night’s showing of Pirates. Go ahead and plan on it.”

  “Great!” Courtney said.

  “Good. It’s a date.” While his words sent little alarm bells off in Courtney’s head, his smile sent warm tingles through her. “Oh,” he added before she could respond, “I thought I’d send up a welcome gift. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t welcome my new guest?”

  His grin turned mischievous as he signed off, leaving Courtney staring at the screen.

  In his office, Bo texted Diana to clear his schedule for the following evening. Should he take Courtney to dinner, too? He wavered. If this was truly a real date, he would take her somewhere nice where they could be appropriately dressed for the show afterwards. In his mind, this was their second date, but what if Courtney didn’t feel the same? What if she was just humoring him because he was the man with the money? Maybe she was afraid he’d take away her contest winnings if she didn’t comply.

  In the last few years, Bo had been looking for a real relationship and had been repeatedly disappointed when it felt as though many of the women he’d dated had only found him interesting because of his money and power. He thought he’d found something real with his most recent ex-girlfriend, Kitty, but things with her had ended badly to put it mildly. He wanted someone who shared the same interests as him. Someone he could talk to. He liked Courtney but wasn’t sure if she felt the same about him. Plus, she seemed a bit overwhelmed by him. He could only hope she’d get used to him.

  And what better way to have her get used to him than to set up a second date?

  He started making dinner date arrangements while simultaneously preparing himself for the severe chewing out he knew he’d get once Diana learned that he planned to ditch the schedule she’d painstakingly set up for him.

  In her room, Courtney still stood rooted to the spot. A date? Had he said it was a date? Wait. Was he going to the show with her...like a real date?

  She jumped when the speakers chirped to announce a delivery and had to take a moment to gather herself before hitting the button to open the small delivery door.

  Inside was a silver tray with a bottle of red wine, chocolate covered strawberries, and—Courtney laughed at the last thing—a cat toy. She pulled everything out and set it on the dining table that stood between the kitchen island and the couch.

  Dot stared at her as if knowing that Courtney was holding something back from her. She threw the small toy for the curious cat who walked snootily over to inspect the toy before beginning to rub herself all over the catnip-filled toy.

  “Well, he knows how to make Dot purr, that’s for sure.”

  Now I just have to keep from rubbing myself all over Bo… Courtney thought with a delicious shiver.

  Just then Olivia’s face popped up on the screen with the words, “front door” over the top. Courtney hurried over to the door and slapped the button to open it.

  Olivia’s smile shifted to concern when she saw Courtney’s panic.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I think…I think I just set up a date with Bo for tomorrow night.”

  Chapter 5

  Once Courtney knew what the plan was for the next evening, she was able to partially calm down. She now sat poolside with Olivia, sipping a tropical drink during a pause in Olivia’s tour of the building. Her bare feet dangled in the warm pool water, and she couldn’t help but admire her perfectly manicured toenails.

  Before leaving the suite, Olivia had ordered two coffees sent to Courtney’s room via the OCS system. Courtney was grateful for the caffeine hit, especially since they then had to spend time preparing for her unplanned date with Bo before going on a tour of the building. Olivia helped Courtney pick out an appropriate outfit for the upcoming date—which she was definitely not nervous about—and also showed Courtney how to schedule hair and makeup staff to come to her room to help her prepare for her night out.

  It still struck Courtney as a little surreal to have all this help. She didn’t want to get so used to it that she would wind up feeling helpless when she left in three months and no longer had staff there to do her hair. A part of her wondered if she should even be using such services. Who was she to have people doing her hair and makeup just for a date?

  Then again, when was she ever going to get the chance to be this pampered again in her life? She did draw the line at having her nails done again since they still looked fine from the previous manicure.

  The first stop on Olivia’s tour was the Temple’s gym. It was an entire floor of the building dedicated just to physical and mental wellness activities. Various exercise machines lined the walls and had barriers between them to provide an illusion of privacy. There was a basketball court with a running track above it, not unlike the one Courtney had used occasionally at her local gym. There were options for one-on-one personal training and a variety of group classes Courtney could schedule to take like yoga, Pilates, or spin class.

  Courtney felt a little reassured when Olivia explained that the group classes were open to all staff for free. She wasn’t sure she’d feel comfortable taking classes with the rich and famous.

  Best of all, everything could be scheduled right from the OCS in her room.

  The floor above the gym was dedicated to a spa with massage and other offerings Courtney thought she might like to try.

  Looks like I’ll have some things to go do outside my room after all, she thought with an inward smile as she glanced at the list of services there.

  The best fl
oor was the next one above the spa. It was a library filled with physical books and other items she could borrow anytime.

  “You can check out anything here—from kitchen appliances if you fancy dabbling in the culinary scene, to puzzles, to an e-reader with unlimited book access,” Olivia explained.

  Olivia had then taken her down to the second floor where they now sat around the outdoor pool. The space was meticulously landscaped to make guests feel as if they were in a tropical oasis. Palm trees masked the concrete buildings and created privacy between the small, two-person cabanas set up in sandy areas. Instead of concrete, the walkways were built out of faux wood. The best part was the saltwater pool which had a beautiful blue ocean mosaic. There was even a bar where she could have an afternoon Mai Tai or whatever her heart desired.

  It truly felt like a tropical oasis.

  In that moment, the only thing Courtney was drinking in was a sexy cabana staff member who only wore a Hawaiian lei for a shirt. He was well-muscled and clearly hand-picked for the job.

  Down girl, she told herself. He’s a staff member.

  Olivia saw the look Courtney gave the man and quietly, so only the two of them could hear, said, “That’s Sebastian. He only works the pool part time to show off his wares to the guests.”

  It took Courtney a moment to realize what Olivia was saying. “Wait, is his other job…?”

  “Yup.” Olivia smiled and waved at the man as he handed a pink drink across the bar to a woman in a white bathing suit. “He’s not a bad place to start if you want to go exploring. Not very imaginative, mind you,” she shrugged, “but fun, nonetheless.”

  “Huh.” Was the only response Courtney could muster before she realized she was openly ogling the man. She was grateful when Olivia changed the subject so she would stop considering her options with Sebastian.

  “The cabanas can be reserved for a private massage if you’d like to get out of the spa—all booked from your OCS.”

  “That thing really is the backbone of this place, huh?”