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“Hard, soft,” she says. “You know, the things you’re not-so comfortable doing.”
I nod, though I’m not really sure I understand. “Okay…”
“Clothing mandatory, no sexual contact allowed — so you know the seating is nice and clean, at least.”
“Oh, good…”
Melanie twists us around and targets the stairs. “Anyway, the bottom floor is the welcome area but upstairs is where the magic happens.”
I let her pull me along and I grasp the railing on the way up the unfamiliar staircase. As we ascend, the lighting dims and that comfortable, warm atmosphere disappears into something darker.
The walls are painted black. Gone are the beautiful Victorian couches. They’re replaced with black, leather benches along the walls but this doesn’t feel like a place for sitting for long periods of time.
There’s a track along the ceiling with strategically-placed lights that barely illuminate much of anything. There are three open areas on each side of the staircase, each one with a piece of furniture at the center, some as simple as a table. Others…
An X-shaped cross with cuffs at the end of each arm. A bench that seems a little like a massage table but it’s all out of whack, like it would force you to sit on all-fours like a…
Oh.
I swallow.
“Nora Payne,” Melanie says beside me, “meet pleasure.”
I roll my eyes. “How long have you been saving that one?”
“Shush.”
She slaps my calf with a riding crop.
I flinch. “Where the hell did you get that thing?” I ask.
“Off the wall.” She hits me again. “So, what do you think?”
I take a wide step out of her crop’s reach. “This…” I chuckle. “This is a little closer to what I expected.”
“Clothing optional,” she says. “Still no sex allowed up here but play is highly encouraged.”
“Play?”
She swipes at me again, which I easily dodge. “Play.”
I look at the tables and crosses again, quickly realizing that there are no curtains or doors on the entire floor.
“They do it in front of everybody?” I ask.
“That’s part of the fun!” she says. “Being watched is super hot.”
I laugh. “Is it?”
She stares at me, unblinking. “Yes.”
“Have you done this before?”
“Once or twice. Rob and I came here a little back in the day, but…” She shrugs, going quiet.
I throw on a sympathetic face. Melanie doesn’t usually talk about the details surrounding the fall of her and Robbie too often. I can tell it bums her out more than she lets on. I won’t push for details.
“Anyway…”She waves her crop around like a magic wand and points at the X-shaped cross in the opposite corner. “The St. Andrew’s cross, a few cages, restraint tables, and — my personal favorite — the punishment bench.”
