Page 31 of Pure Recklessness

It was hard to form new friendships in a big city. People were in such a rush here and didn’t have time to stop and talk never mind socialise. Not even the people I shared a house with.

Dana and Joe were the first friends I’d made in London.

At least I hoped they were my friends.

That depended on what they planned to do to me in the basement.

I wiped the sweat from my brow.

When the lift doors sprung open, my pulse spiked.

‘Welcome to Pleasureland!’ Joe said as he gestured me to follow him.

‘Don’t worry.’ Dana squeezed my shoulder gently. ‘It’s not a sex dungeon!’

Phew. She’d read my mind.

Then again, don’t worry was what people said when you really did need to.

I followed behind them cautiously and when Joe stopped in front of a shop, my eyes bulged.

Judging by the explicit black leather crotchless underwear the female mannequin was wearing and the whip the other male mannequin was holding above her bottom, they’d brought me to a sex shop.

‘This is about to become your new favourite place!’ Joe said.

‘Doubtful,’ I muttered.

If I thought that the window display was jaw-dropping, that didn’t begin to compare to the interior.

The wall was lined with a plethora of sex toys. My head spun from left to right then back as I attempted to take in everything.

There were vibrators and dildos of every size, shape and colour.

‘These are all of the sex toys and lingerie Sated produces. Well, most of it,’ Dana explained. ‘This is our showcase store so if the press are looking for products for features and want to see them in the flesh instead of online, they can browse everything here in private instead of trekking to one of our high street stores.’

‘Right,’ I replied, still trying to take everything in.

‘Hi, Maeve,’ Joe greeted a woman behind a desk. ‘This is Ellie. She’s new. She’s doing a very important project for Daddy Dev… I mean, Mr Devlin.’

‘Which one?’ she asked.

‘Blake. She needs some inspiration. Can we pick some items?’

‘Sure! Hi Ellie. Welcome to Sated. You can choose up to five items for research. After that, you’ll need clearance from your department head, okay?’

‘I’m sure that won’t be⁠—’

‘That’s fine!’ Joe jumped in. ‘Thank you.’

I opened my mouth to speak then closed it again.

‘If you want to buy anything else for yourself, staff get a forty per cent discount!’ Dana grinned.

‘Oh,’ I said, thinking that I wouldn’t be using any of the toys they were about to give me, let alone buying more.

‘We get a discount on the dating app too, in case you want to find a new boyfriend,’ Joe added.

‘I told you,’ I huffed. ‘I don’t need a new boyfriend!’