Sami felt like an idiot. AJ and Crash weren’t killers or sadists. AJ had even said that he didn’t really want to hit anybody. What was she afraid of? sky was right. Somebody who wanted to kidnap and torture people wouldn’t come here. That was just stupid.
She knew what her problem was. She was afraid of being taken advantage of again. She also didn’t want to get interested in them just to have them walk away at the end of the week. But of course they were going to walk away. They had their own lives, after all.
“Nothing, I guess,” she said finally. “I’m just a little nervous.”
“That’s understandable, dear.” sky patted her arm. “But being nervous is no excuse to hide from life. Remember, everything good is on the other side of fear. You’re not going to be hurt this week, at least not in ways you don’t want to be. Whatever happens, you’ll be stronger for it. Now let’s go in and finish this up so we can all get ready for tonight.”
Chapter 5
AJ looked around to see where Sami had gotten to. No, it was Buffy, he corrected himself. She might not have liked the fact that Carly told them the Buffy story, but he thought the name was going to stick. He was starting to see that maybe this stuff wasn’t as weird as he’d always assumed it was. Different, sure, but it was kind of starting to make sense to him, especially the D/s thing. When sky had described the way submissives sat at their Dominants’ feet, he’d immediately flashed to an image of him and Buffy in that position.
It was bizarre. He’d never had the desire to dominate anyone before. He was attracted to her, but this was completely different than sex. He imagined her kneeling, looking up at him with complete trust and adoration. He would pick her up, throw her on the bed that conveniently materialized in his imagination, rip her clothes off—
“Is that all the cookies?” Crash’s complaining voice snapped him out of his dream, just at the good part. Damn it.
But it was probably better this way. He should have been fantasizing about Tammy anyway, not Buffy. He tried to switch the image in his mind, but Tammy refused to kneel and gaze at him adoringly. He tried again, but he simply couldn’t picture her as a sweet, devoted submissive. Maybe she wasn’t into that. sky had said that different people were into different parts of BDSM. Maybe she liked to be spanked. Now that he could believe. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was one of those SAMs that Dave guy had mentioned.
Buffy sat down next to him. “I think we’re about to get started again,” she whispered.
“Did you happen to see Allie when you were outside?” Crash stage-whispered from her other side. “Is she back from grocery shopping yet?”
AJ sighed and rubbed his eyes. He should know better than to try to actually think when Crash was around.
“Looks like everybody’s back,” sky said, taking her place again. “Has everybody decided what they want to be called at the club?”
The two couples said they preferred to use their real names, and Crash, AJ, and Buffy were satisfied with those nicknames. sky nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s cover dungeon etiquette.” She walked to one of the X-shaped crosses against the wall. “This is a St. Andrew’s Cross. It’s normally used for flogging or singletail scenes. It can be used for other things, of course, but there’s a certain consideration to flogging and singletail that I want to discuss. It’s very important to be aware of where you are at all times in the dungeon, and what’s going on around you. If someone is doing a flogging scene, then you need to steer clear of their space, keeping in mind how far the flogger is going to be flying behind and around the top.”
She went to the table and took something out of her bag. It had a round wooden handle on one end and long, thin leather straps on the other.
“This is a flogger, if you haven’t seen one before. That’s the handle, of course, and these long things are called falls.” She walked back over to the cross. She began swinging, and they watched how the falls landed on the wood with a deep thud then swung around behind her as she brought it around again.
She moved from one side to the other, up close and back, then stopped and turned toward them. “You can see that if you walk anywhere in this area”—she drew a large circle around herself with her finger—“you’re likely to get hit by the flogger. Of course, as the top I should always be aware of what’s going on around me, but in this case I have claimed this area for my scene and it’s your responsibility not to intrude.”
She went back to the table and pulled out a long, thin whip. It was probably four feet in length. She flicked it expertly, and it let out a loud, sinister snap. Sami jumped, and Susan let out a terrified screech. Lucy gasped, and her eyes went wide and shining.
“Singletails are even more likely to catch bystanders, if they’re not careful.” sky went back to the cross and stood just far enough away to touch it with the whip. “You can see that it’s both quicker and harder to see than a flogger, and it goes back farther. Many a person has unintentionally bottomed for a singletail scene. This is about as long as is usually allowed in clubs. The showoffs that get bullwhips are obliged to play with them at home. If they can get anyone to play with them, that is.”
She chuckled and put the whip away. “The important thing to remember about this demo is not to get involved with someone else’s scene, accidentally or not. Do not speak to anyone in a scene, even if you think they’re doing something wrong or the bottom looks like they’re in trouble. The only exception to that rule is if the bottom is calling ‘red’ and the scene is not stopping. Even in that case, as relatively inexperienced members, it’s always better to grab a dungeon monitor and let them make the call whether to interrupt or not. Dungeon monitors always have some kind of designation like a vest, T-shirt, badge, or something that lets you know they’ve accepted responsibility for the safety of the play space. Someone calling red is the only reason to interfere in a scene—unless, I suppose, the building is on fire or being raided or something.”
Greg raised his hand. “Does that happen often? The being raided thing?”
sky smiled. “No. The legalities of what we’re doing can seem shaky, especially in light of the laws about domestic abuse. But most officers are aware of the lifestyle, and, even if they don’t understand it, they’ll leave us alone unless it becomes obvious that there is bona-fide victimization going on. The police in Grandpointe, for instance, are very aware of the club. We even have an officer as a member, although he doesn’t really talk about his job. He has been very instrumental in educating the rest of the force.”
Susan raised her hand. “What’s that ‘red’ thing? Does it happen often?”
“Good question. In case you’re not familiar with the concept of safewords, they are usually used to indicate how a particular scene is going for the bottom. A smart top will check in frequently, especially if they’re doing something they don’t do often. Safewords can be anything you want, although it’s best if it’s not a word that you might normally say. The generally accepted safewords are green for ‘keep going,’ yellow for ‘slow down,’ and red for ‘okay, we’re done here.’ If you hear someone yelling ‘no,’ or ‘stop,’ or even ‘avocado,’ don’t assume it’s a safeword. It may not mean anything. Do you think you big, strong, chivalrous guys could walk past a woman being beaten and screaming ‘stop’ and not interfere?”
All of the guys looked dubious. AJ rubbed his jaw. “I’m not really sure. It’s kind of a hard concept to wrap your head around.”
“Well, try.” sky laughed. “You’re more than likely to come across similar things at the club. So now, unless there are any more questions, I think I’m done and you all can have some free time before the dungeon party starts tonight.”
“The hell with free time,” Crash muttered. “I want some dinner!”
* * * *
Sami slid into the front passenger seat of AJ’s Saturn for the ride to The Keep. It wasn’t the kind of car she would have expected him to have, but she was glad that he was driving. She knew Allie’s suggestion fo
r them all to caravan to the club was sensible, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to ride with someone named “Crash.” She had no doubt that the two football players were genuinely nice guys, but they, or more to the point, her own growing attraction to them, made her nervous.
She was just reminding herself that she wasn’t in Eugene anymore and Ron couldn’t hurt her again when she was jolted out of her thoughts by the sudden stopping of the car. She realized she had not noticed the ride to the club or the men’s conversation. She cast a quick glance over and was surprised to see them eyeing her with concern.
AJ asked, “Are you okay? You didn’t say a word the entire trip. I can take you back to Clifftop if you don’t want to go tonight.”
“No, I’m fine.” Sami put a smile on her face, even though her stomach was full of butterflies. “Allie would be disappointed if we didn’t show up. I know she put a lot of effort into the arrangements.”
“All right. We’d best get a move on or they’re going to leave us behind.” AJ opened his door and climbed out.
Karl was at the door, holding it open for them as they got to it. Sami shot a quick look at the exterior of the building and was surprised to see that it appeared to be a nondescript warehouse-type building in an industrial park. There was a small plaque hanging above the solid metal door that read “The Keep, A Private Membership Club.”
She gave Karl a shy smile as she went through the door between Crash and AJ. Allie and sky were waiting to greet them once they had passed through a small antechamber and into the club proper. Sami marveled at how comfortable the two women looked in their fetish finery. Allie wore a skintight shiny black dress that she thought was made of latex by the squeaking sounds it made. sky, on the other hand, was wearing a long green skirt and a light lavender corset that complemented her purple hair nicely. Her breasts were pushed up so high that Sami thought they might pop out at any minute. Looking down at her own outfit, a soft, blue silk top and knee-length, black cotton skirt, she suddenly felt frumpy.
She met Allie’s eyes as she looked back up. Allie smiled. “It’s okay, Buffy. You look just fine. Remember, on Sunday we have a class on costuming and fetish clothing. I’m sure we can find you something you like for the play parties at the end of next week.”
“Thanks. I’ve always wanted to try wearing a corset. They just look so sexy.”
“Good. We will have a corsetiere there with several different styles for you to try, as well as underbusts, skirts, and all manner of goodies. For now though, just come on in and get a feel for the place. This first room is the social area, and, as sky mentioned earlier, no obvious play is allowed here with the exception of service-oriented D/s things. So get a snack and a drink and mingle a bit.”
“Okay. Thanks.” She turned toward the room to find that Crash and AJ were standing quietly a few feet away, hands behind their backs. They looked like they were her personal bodyguards waiting to follow her in. She half expected one of them to murmur some code phrase into his shoulder, like, “The eagle has landed” or something.
She was a little embarrassed. “You guys didn’t have to wait for me.”
“Of course we did. We’re your dates for the night, after all.” Crash smiled and gestured for her to walk ahead.
Her apprehension must have shown on her face because AJ quickly added, “What my idiot friend meant to say is that we are your escorts for the evening. Nothing is expected but your delightful company, m’lady.”
He bowed at the waist, slapping at Crash’s knee until he took the hint and bowed as well. Sami found herself chuckling at the way they were obviously trying to make her feel comfortable. She relaxed a bit and smiled at them. It helped a little, too, that they were attired in black khaki slacks and long-sleeved dress shirts, maroon for Crash and green for AJ. The only fetish-like item either wore was black leather boots. Not that she would have had the nerve to wear a skintight dress like Allie’s, she told herself, but at least they all looked hopelessly vanilla together.
They collected small plates of snacks and sodas from the fridge in the corner, and Sami and AJ found seats on a couch against one wall. Crash followed them, attempting to balance the two plates he had loaded to overflowing. As he made his way to where they were sitting, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Are you Hansel or Gretel?”
Crash frowned at her, confused. “What?”
“Well, with the trail of bread crumbs you’re leaving to find your way back to the snack table, I thought you must be one or the other.”
“Oh, shit. Here, take these.” He twisted to look behind him, spilling even more of his food, and then handed off the overloaded plates to AJ. AJ sighed as his friend went in search of more napkins in an attempt to clean up his mess.
When he had finished, apologizing to everyone within a five-foot radius, Crash retrieved his plates from where AJ had put them on the coffee table. He took a seat on the other side of Sami and began diligently working his way through the piled food. Taking pity on him, Sami leaned over and whispered, “It’s okay, big guy. Nobody seems to care.”
“Good, because I just seem to be jacking things up one after the other, and the evening is just getting started.”
She gave his knee a brief, reassuring squeeze and turned back to the room, feeling a little shocked at her own forwardness.
The three of them made small talk and watched the other patrons in the social area. There was certainly a lot to see. People in all kinds of different outfits, from steampunk to candy bikinis, walked past, chatting as if they were at Starbucks. Sami was surprised at how easy it was to adjust to seeing naked, half-naked, or partially naked people following or sitting at the feet of their partners. Then they noticed Allie making her way around the room, collecting the others from the boot camp. When she got to where they were sitting, she said, “If you’re ready, we are going to go into the dungeon and do a scene. You don’t have to come, but if you’re interested, it will give you an idea of one way to play.”
Sami collected their plates and threw them away, and they followed Allie through a door in the back of the room. They found themselves in what was obviously the main dungeon: a large, open room with a high ceiling outfitted with many of the same pieces of furniture that they had seen in the barn earlier in the day. There were large, wooden St. Andrew’s Crosses braced against some of the walls, cushioned pieces that Sami thought were called spanking benches, and a variety of padded tables with what looked like boat cleats along their sides that Karl had explained were used as bondage tables. She had thought it odd at first, but the more she thought about it, the more sense the cleats made. She even saw a cage in the corner here as well and chains on pulleys hanging from the ceiling.
Allie gestured for them all to gather near what looked like a normal gynecological exam table. “We are going to do a very mild scene involving sensory deprivation and sensation play. It will not be in any way scary or extreme except that some of you may not be used to seeing sexual acts done in public. Some clubs do not allow sexual penetration at their clubs due to zoning restrictions, but many do, and luckily for us this is one of them. Safer sex is encouraged at the club unless you are fluid bonded like Brad, Karl, and I are, but even then you are expected to take precautions to keep the equipment uncontaminated and to clean up after yourselves. We have negotiated all of this ahead of time and designed it to show you that BDSM is more than just hitting people. It is about the connection with your partners and the mutual enjoyment of all involved. We ask that you not interrupt the scene as it is going on, but we will be happy to discuss it afterward. Before we start, are there any questions?”
No one said anything, and after a moment Allie continued, “Good. Since we have a large group and do not want to intrude on other people’s scenes, let’s bunch up a bit and try not to block any of the other play stations.”
Trying to follow Allie’s directions, AJ and Crash shuffled to one side, standing shoulder to shoulder. Sami stepped into the gap in front of them. She was so m
uch shorter than either of the men she knew she wouldn’t block their view, but she was careful not to touch them. Still, the awareness of their bulk gave her a safe, protected feeling. A girl could get used to that, she thought.
Then she became fascinated with watching Karl, Brad, and Allie. Karl was very sexy in his heavy-looking black leather pants with lacings up the sides, a royal-blue dress shirt, and black leather vest covered in small pins. She thought to herself that she would have to ask what the pins meant later. Next to him Brad looked smaller—but, other than AJ and Crash, who wouldn’t? Karl just exuded a presence that made him seem ten feet tall without being overbearing or threatening. She wondered how he managed that and decided to add it to her list of questions. Brad, she noted, also wore black leather pants, but his seemed to be much lighter and thinner with slick sides instead of the lacings, and no shirt at all. He had a nice build. He wasn’t ripped like she was sure the football players at her back would be, but he was quite good-looking, for an accountant.
The three of them worked as well together here as they seemed to at Clifftop. There was no arguing over who would clean the table, who would spread the cloth over it, or who would dig all of the stuff out of the duffle bag on the floor. They just did what needed to be done, working like a well-oiled machine and seeming happy with their place in the world.
Once the preparations were complete, she watched in awe as Allie casually stripped out of her dress at a hand signal from Karl and knelt at his feet with her hands clasped behind her back, looking up into his face. Brad took a position just to the left of Allie, hands behind his back as well. Karl smiled and reached down to cup Allie’s face in both of his hands, murmuring, “You are mine.”
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