“No, it’s a bigger kind of deal than that,” Mark said. “But it’s in a different place every month.”
The man grinned, looking at Mark over the tops of his glasses. “That’s smart,” he said. “Keep the prudes and the police away.”
“Something like that.”
The man shook his head. “Can’t help you though. I guess if you’re in the scene, you’ll find it.”
“Or it’ll find you,” Mark mumbled.
“Huh?”
“Nothing,” Mark said. “Thanks.”
He left the store. The next Bondage-A-Go-Go gathering was just two nights away, according to the free adult magazine ads. He prayed that he had better luck there.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Morning After
Her back was groaningly stiff when Rae sat up. The silk of the sheets slid easily down from around her skin as she rose in the bed. Part of her was surprised that the blood from the wounds she’d sustained on the rack the night before had not dried and scabbed the sheet to her. She stretched and looked around in the dark, momentarily disconcerted. She remembered the night before, but for a minute she wasn’t sure where she was. And then she remembered that Kharon had left her here.
Kharon.
Images of his white body moving on top of her own flesh came at her in a rush, and she felt instantly warm.
She had agreed to stay in NightWhere, here in this room, after everyone else had gone home. She had promised herself to Kharon forever.
The memories all came back in a rush, and she found herself whispering one word.
“Wow.”
Rae assumed they had to get up and out of this building though. NightWhere couldn’t stay in one place for long, or the place would get busted. The police would never let any adult club be this extreme. She knew that most bondage clubs kept the patrons at least partially dressed and never broke the skin with their floggers. They were more for play than foreplay.
She shifted in the bed and was reminded of how different NightWhere was. They didn’t shy from doling out pain here.
She slid from the bed, feeling her way along the nightstand to the wall. There had to be a light somewhere… Kharon had turned one on and off in the living room last night. But at the moment, she couldn’t see enough in the dark to even find a switch. There were no windows here; this truly was sensory deprivation, level black.
“Good sleeping room,” she whispered.
Finally she found a switch and turned it on, squinting her eyes against what she assumed would be a wash of light. But she quickly opened them. The switch turned on a row of three red bulbs in the ceiling. They lit the room enough to get around in, but she felt as if she were walking in a photographic darkroom.
Rae frowned and stepped into the living room. There she found a more utilitarian light. She stood naked in the center of the room, taking it all in. Again she wondered at the decor. She appeared to be in a regular, permanent apartment, if one decorated with the eye of a denizen of NightWhere. But…they couldn’t set rooms like this up every month for the club; perhaps this was a room that had already been set up in this building, prior to NightWhere’s arrival?
Looking at the black walls, she thought that seemed unlikely.
Rae went into the bathroom to pee; it felt as if she hadn’t gone in hours and hours. When she stood up, she saw a black silk robe on the back of the door. She began to slip it on, but then caught herself in the mirror.
She turned to the side and looked at her shoulder, and then edged around to stare at as much of her back as she could crane her head to see.
There should have been scabs and puffy red marks where the whips had cracked just hours before.
Rae frowned.
Her back appeared blemish-free. She could see the smooth curve of her shoulder and the gentle bumps of her spine. Her skin looked pale and pure in the mirror.
“I guess I can’t complain about that,” she murmured and pulled the robe closed, cinching the ties. “I’m sure I’ll be bloody again tonight.”
Something inside her squirmed with anticipation at the thought. “You are one sick girl,” she said to herself.
A voice answered her private admonition.
“Are you ready?” a man called from the living room. Rae stepped out, and Kharon was there.
“For what?” she asked.
“For your first day in NightWhere.”
“I guess I need to get some clothes on first,” she said.
He waved a hand. “You look perfect just like that. A robe is more than many wear around here. We keep the heat high, so clothing is just for fashion, not for warmth. We don’t like to have too much in the way of what we’re all here for.”
He stepped closer and ran a hand up the silken material from her waist to her chest. He cupped one breast, forcing the nipple to show itself through the thin material. “You can take this off whenever you like,” he said. “Remember where you are.”
Rae leaned into his hand, exulting in the feeling. There was something about this man, some innate power, some innate…sexuality. On the surface, he was not beautiful. She pictured his deathly white skin and bony chest as he’d mounted her last night. Normally, she would have found such a man repulsive. But…she wanted him again, just as she had then.
He smiled, as if he could read her mind.
“Not now,” he warned. “We need to get you your badge. The day will pass quickly and then we’ll be opening the doors again.”
“What badge?” she asked, and Kharon held up his wrist to show the familiar twining-snake tattoo. “This shows everyone that you’re not just passing through. You’re one of us. You live here now.”
“But, Mark…all my things…”
“Do you really want to go back to that life?” Kharon asked. “You said last night that you would be mine forever.”
Rae felt a warmth in her gut as they walked down a long dark hall, back towards the Blue Room. Every day here with Kharon? Every day a chance to walk naked through a crowd? Every day a chance to whip and be whipped.
“I do,” she said. “I guess I just didn’t think I would stay here all the time.”
“You are either in or out,” Kharon said. “You can’t be a visitor forever.”
Rae nodded. “What about Mark? Can I tell him…”
Kharon shook his head. “We will tell him. It will be easiest that way. He’ll be angry, but I think he’ll understand. You were meant for this place, and he…wasn’t.”
As they walked into the main room, he pointed out Sin-D, who lounged on a chair near the bar. She underscored his point about the clothing-optional nature of NightWhere. Sin-D wore only a pair of black fishnets and a sheer black baby doll top. Open access, if any men cared to step up to the chair.
“She will take care of you,” Kharon promised. “She’s gotten pretty good with the needles. Then we’ll need to find out what you can do around here during the day to earn your keep, before the doors open.”
“But, don’t we need to move to another place?” she asked. NightWhere had always been in a different building each time she had come.
He put his hands on her shoulders and aimed her at Sin-D. But before he pushed her forward, he leaned to her ear to whisper. “We already have moved,” he said. “Everything’s set here for tonight.”
He licked her ear and said, “You were asleep a long time.”
The tattoo hurt, but in the end, it looked awesome. Sin-D worked quickly, pricking the ink into Rae’s skin and the snake took shape around Rae’s wrist in no time, twining and winding around her hand to eat its own tail.
When she was done, Sin-D leaned back and smiled. Rae thought her teeth made a delicious contrast against her tan skin. The other woman’s breasts pressed sumptuously against the thin silk; she may as well not have worn anything. She wore a belly button ring as well. And shaved her pussy. Also pierced.