So much for my pie in the sky dreams.
* * *
I walked through the nightclub section of Club X in my tiny black tank dress and almost four inch heels, weaving through the crowds to the beat of dance music on my way to the stairs that led up to the fantasy rooms. Although I rarely dressed up like this, I liked how it felt when I saw a few male patrons check me out. They didn’t know I was all walk and no talk, but it didn’t matter. Tonight wasn’t about impressing them.
Tonight was about me becoming the new and improved Olivia.
My legs shook almost uncontrollably as I climbed the stairs past the second, third, and fourth floors, avoiding the gazes of the throngs of people passing me. Each step I took moved me one step closer to my fantasy. I’d been pretty vague on my request form, only saying I wanted to experience not being in control all the time. I wasn’t up for anything too freaky, but I didn’t want to put too many restrictions on my request and end up having tea with some pathetic guy in glasses because Kane thought I was looking for something tame.
By the time I reached the top floor, it was nearly midnight and my stomach was completely tied in knots. My palms felt clammy too, and as I walked toward where Kane stood talking to some man, I nonchalantly wiped my hands down the front of my dress, hoping to dry them off a little. The men stared at me as I approached them, and I immediately wondered if this was the person Kane had arranged to spend time with me. Tall and very muscular, he wore his blond hair a little too long for my taste and reminded me of that model who’d been on all those romance novels my mother used to like to read. He seemed intensely interested in me, though, and I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at the idea that my first venture into the sexier side of life would be with him.
“Olivia, I almost didn’t recognize you,” Kane said in an unusually pleasant voice for him.
I looked down at my dress and back up at him. “Yes, well, I thought I should…” I felt foolish explaining my choice of clothes and by the look on the mystery man’s face, he couldn’t figure out why I was boring them with the information either, so I let my sentence trail off into awkward silence. My brand new sexy life wasn’t starting off well at all.
Kane pointed down the hallway I’d walked with Cash the week before. “Go to the last room on the right. Be sure to follow all the directions on the card. Most important, have a good time, Olivia.”
The scary owner seemed downright chipper tonight, but I had the feeling it was more amusement at me than a new outlook on life. I turned and walked through the crowd of already drunk partiers directly to the room, just as he’d told me to, finding only a note and a plain, white box on the table next to the ordinary tan sofa. Taking a deep breath, I sat down and opened the note card.
Welcome to your fantasy, Olivia. This night is all yours. For the next two hours, let yourself go. You want to experience not being in control, so you’ll do as I desire. If you don’t obey, I’ll correct you once. The second time you make any mistake, our time will be over.
In the box, you’ll find a blindfold. Put it on and wait.
Nervous but exhilarated by the promise of the evening, I opened the lid and nestled inside sat a black silk blindfold. Lifting it out of the box, I ran my fingertips over it, loving the cool, smooth feel of it against my skin. I took one last look around the room that resembled the one I’d sat in with Cash and put the blindfold up to my eyes, tying the ribbons behind my head to hold it in place.
And then I waited.
Without my sight, the sound of my heart pounding became my focus, but I listened to hear my companion for the evening approach, unable to make out anything outside this room because of the soundproofing. Every puff of cool air from the ducts overhead, every hint of my favorite perfume gently wafting the scent of vanilla and floral up from behind my earlobes became so pronounced. I felt vulnerable and on display, and I wondered if anyone stood behind the window waiting for the moment when the covering would rise and they could see everything inside the room. Straining my ears, I waited to hear the sound that would tell me the wall had lifted, but after five minutes or so, I stopped and let myself relax, as the note had told me to.
The door opening put every cell in my body on red alert. The person who entered said nothing, but I felt them standing there watching me. I sat ramrod straight, my heart hammering away in my chest, as I anticipated their first words to me. The air around us nearly crackled with excitement, mine mostly I imagined, but I wanted to think this person who’d spend the next two hours with me wanted to be there too for their own reasons.
As the door closed, I heard them move toward me, and then the first touch of their hands made my breath catch in my throat. Large and strong, the man’s hands slowly caressed my upper arms, sending goosebumps all down my skin. A mixture of exhilaration and fear rippled through me. Closing my eyes, I reminded myself that this was what I wanted. I couldn’t go on living life so safe that I never truly lived at all.
Unsure of how to act, I nervously asked, “What’s your name?”
A deep voice whispered, “Shhhh,” and he took my hand to guide me from my place on the couch. It wasn’t even a real word he spoke, but it was an order—a command—that I was supposed to listen to, and I did willingly, loving how little control I felt already.
His hand slid down my back to the base of my spine as I walked, an unmistakable act of power. Our time would be governed by his rules, not mine. The thought of him controlling my fantasy excited me. What would he do? What would he want me to do? I’d only reserved the room for two hours, a basic fantasy, so there wasn’t supposed to be sex involved.
But at that moment, I so wished it would be. He’d barely touched me, and I wanted him so badly. No, I wanted Cash, but for tonight, this man would be him, at least in my mind.
I sat on the barstool he’d led me to and sensed him move around me. His warm breath slid over the skin on my neck, making every hair stand at attention. Never before had I been so aware of another person near me. My hands ached to reach out and touch him to learn more about the man who already had such an effect on me, but I had the surest sense that wasn’t allowed until he said it was.
He stood in front of me, and I imagined him silently watching me. I didn’t know what to do or how to react. Fulfilling fantasies was his job, but this was all new to me. I licked my lips to moisten them as my nervousness made my mouth as dry as cotton and I heard him exhale. Then he touched my cheek and instantly I felt lightheaded. The pad of his thumb traced a line from just under my cheekbone to the swell of my bottom lip I’d just licked with my tongue and as his finger reached the corner of my mouth, his fingernail grazed my skin, sending a shiver down my spine as he moved his hand away.