Chapter 33
The following week, Melody was a bundle of nerves and anticipation. It was a busy Saturday night, and Laurel had taken her down to the ladies” locker room, so she could get changed in private. Charlotte had sent over a stretchy red dress from her own wardrobe. It was simple and comfortable but shot through with metallic thread which made it sparkle.
Melody had expected the colour to be far too bold with her pale skin and ashen hair, but the end result was surprisingly alluring. She left her hair loose, but since it skimmed the middle of her thighs at almost the same length as her skirt, she had been concerned that it made her look naked. Well, from behind at least. Laurel had told her she was worrying over nothing and that the look would be an instant hit.
Having no experience of such things, Melody took her word for it.
She chose to remain barefoot since she’d become unaccustomed to wearing any type of footwear over the past few years, never mind the skyscraper heels which seemed to be favoured in the club. Luckily, in the playroom, it seemed to be equally acceptable to wear no shoes at all. On the frequent occasions when she watched through the one-way glass windows of the staff area corridor, which overlooked different parts of the club, she had noticed a lot of the submissives who went into the playroom chose that option. Or maybe their masters chose for them. Either way, it suited Melody to do the same.
Now, she bounced up and down on the soles of her feet as she eagerly waited for Laurel to finish getting ready, only vaguely embarrassed by her small, crooked toe that was still partially blackened.
She had spent plenty of time in the dungeon, of course, had carefully dusted every piece of kinky furniture, but it was different when it was full of people.
Melody was also keen to go downstairs to the nightclub section. She didn”t like the idea of the noise or the hundreds of people she knew would be packed in down there like sardines. But she really wanted to see the live kink displays that played out on the incredible suspended platforms above the dance floor, and soak up the unique atmosphere. She didn”t want to risk the claustrophobia of the dance floor or risk getting her bare toes trampled, but Laurel said they could visit the bar and get a decent view from there.
It was going to be their first stop and Melody could hardly wait. She didn”t remember being this excited about anything in her entire life! How sad was that?
Although Trinity had insisted on waiting a while before she cleared Melody”s entry to the club, in case she changed her mind, there had never been any chance of that. If anything, she was even more hyped up after the delay… and she seriously needed that spanking.
The memories that had been stirred up had left Melody anxious and off kilter. The guilt, which she’d managed to force down and put a lid on before, had now boiled over, so she could no longer ignore it.
Melody knew not everyone would understand her need to be punished for what, to them, was a completely skewed perception, especially after the life she had endured with V, but that didn”t matter. This was for her own peace of mind.
Melody didn”t understand the psychology behind it all. What she did know was this type of discipline, which she sought freely, would quiet the noise inside her head and calm her frazzled nerves.
Guilt, punishment, and absolution, there was nothing so strange about that.
To seek out a spanking was just the way Melody chose to absolve herself so she could move forward in mental harmony once again.
People could think what they liked. It worked for her, and she was the only person who mattered in this scenario.
And maybe the person providing the punishment as well, she supposed, which was why she hadn”t pressured Micah into doing it. Melody was sure he would have capitulated if she’d insisted, but he’d already done so much for her.
He was her rock. But if it made him uncomfortable because of his own beliefs regarding both her mental and physical wellbeing, then she refused to put upon him, no matter how much she might prefer him to be doling out the discipline. She owed Micah that much, at least.
So, here she was at the club, sating her interest in the splashy, lower-level show time before she headed upstairs to the dungeon. A bit of an oxymoron there, since dungeons were supposed to be underground, but it seemed everyone fondly referred to the general playroom in those terms, regardless.
Trinity suggested Laurel introduce her to two Doms in particular, Master Flynn and Master Cameron. Although they were strangers, the assistant manager had assured Melody of their ethics and integrity.
Melody was a little nervous that they seemed to operate as a pair, but it wasn”t something she was particularly opposed to. And they were hot! Trinity had pointed them out already, and although neither of them had Micah”s muscled physique, they were both strapping specimens in their own right and just as handsome.
Okay, so they didn”t make her heart beat that little bit faster like being around Micah did, but it was too early to tell how things might progress. She”d see how she felt after the spanking.
They might still be able to provide what she sought in her more personal quest to seek pleasure with a man, but that was an altogether different proposition. Melody wanted there to be at least a modicum of chemistry. She wanted to feel the difference and experience all the joy and delight entwined in giving herself freely to someone to whom she was attracted.
She wanted to finally understand that unique bond of joining with someone simply for their mutual pleasure.
Her pleasure!
How sad was it that after eight—she hesitated to call them lovers; none of them deserved that title. Daddy came closest, but, as much as she was grateful to what Daddy had provided, attraction had never been the motivation there, not for either of them. Then there was V and the half dozen men he had allowed to use her. How did one refer to those encounters? Was there even a word?
Melody shook her head in reaction to her own silent thoughts, but the notion remained. How sad was it that after having been intimate with eight men, she still didn”t know that feeling. Didn”t know what pleasure there was to be had at the hands of a man who put his woman first.
And damn it all, she wanted that!
Because she refused to let that brute, V, still hold any kind of power over her, either physically or mentally. Sure, there might be people who viewed her as damaged and fragile because of what she had gone through. But they”d be wrong.
She was strong. It had taken strength and a clear mind to choose to live with a man old enough to be her grandfather and share her body with him. And it had taken even more to refuse to allow the brute to grind her down.
It wasn”t that he hadn”t tried, and he’d succeeded to a certain extent.
But deep inside, in a quiet, private place within the deepest fathoms of her mind, Melody harboured the dream that one day things would be better. Now that they were, there was no way she was going to allow the brute to sabotage her life from afar. She’d already lived through hell and managed to come back from it. Now she planned to find a little slice of heaven.
On her own terms.
And what better place to find it than here? In this place, where the pleasures of the body were respected and embraced, cherished.
All she’d ever known in her life was mundane, at best. Or force, at the worst.
Melody wanted to replace those memories with something good. Maybe, if she was lucky, something great. Was that really so bad?
It seemed to take forever for Laurel to be ready, but Melody knew it was just her own impatience.
”Okay, let”s do this!” Laurel came sweeping out of a cubicle, then sashayed straight out through the doors to the nightclub, speaking as if Melody hadn”t been standing there waiting for her for the past five minutes, and leaving her trotting to catch up.
When she turned to check on her, Laurel yelled through the noise and the crowd, ”Stay with me, hon. It can get a bit manic down here!”
A wall of sound was the first thing to hit Melody as she followed Laurel into the shadowy, cavernous hall, pierced with blinding shards of rainbow colours and spotlighted showstoppers. It engulfed her like a wave, bringing with it a heavy heat and the cloying combined odours of musk, perspiration, and perfume.
The dance floor was an undulating mass of bodies which seemed to move as a singular, surging groundswell in a ritual as age-old as sex itself. And above their heads, were the famed, unique display platforms the club was famous for. They hung suspended, each inside its own little bubble of light. The sounds from each one broadcast slightly above the noise of the crowd and the thump of the music, providing a stimulating soundtrack of sexy sighs and groans to backdrop the incredible scenes taking place atop them.
Melody stopped in her tracks, mesmerised by the assorted displays of kink taking place above her head, momentarily forgetting all about Laurel, who continued toward the bar.
From the incredible athletics of professional pole dancing, to two, or three-person scenes featuring straightforward D/s, to MMF, to same sex combinations. Any blend you could possibly think of was taking part in every conceivable activity,
Flogging, fellatio, bondage, role play.
There were crops, and paddles, and handcuffs, and rope, and spreader bars. A veritable smorgasbord of idiosyncratic kink and shamelessly unorthodox debauchery to titillate even the most critical or enthusiastic of voyeurs.
Melody”s eyes were as wide as saucers as she struggled to take it all in.
There was so much going on, too many things to see.
Where did she look first?
And where had Laurel gone?
Melody had promised Trinity, faithfully, that if she was allowed into the club, she would remain with her chaperone at all times. But there were so many people, hundreds of bodies, pressing and flowing, thronging and clustering, that Melody couldn”t see the other girl anywhere.
It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and suddenly, Melody was overwhelmed with the need to find a familiar face in this seething mass of strangers.
Damn! She should never have allowed herself to become so distracted.
The back of her neck prickled as if someone was staring, but then everyone in this place was ogling one thing or another, watching, assessing, considering. It was the very nature of the environment. Still, Melody was suddenly uneasy and eager to locate her friend.
As she pushed her way toward the bar, she still couldn”t shake the feeling she was being watched. Not just a casual glance, or sensual consideration, or frank approval. This felt like something more sinister—calculated scrutiny; an ominous deliberation.
Jesus, was she paranoid or what? Was her mind actually as fragile and damaged as Micah had feared and she had denied? Was she jumping at shadows now?
She felt the crush of bodies pushing her anxiety toward a stifling sensation of claustrophobia and moved to one side, away from the worst of the crowd, as she fought to maintain her equilibrium and push down the menacing sense of dread which had her spooked.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, Melody gave herself a stern talking to. This was ridiculous! There was no one here who could possibly know her, because she hadn”t been in an environment conducive to promoting friendships or even acquaintances.
That”s what the problem was, she told herself. She’d been cloistered and confined without the opportunity of meeting people, let alone being in places where there were any more than half a dozen people at a time, not even a supermarket. She was simply overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people in a relatively confined area, and the shock of noise that inundated her sheltered senses. She was unused to all of this, that was all, so it unnerved her.
Still searching out Laurel, Melody felt slightly safer as she hugged the wall, protected on one side at least. She‘d almost reached the area where she last saw her friend, when some kind of sixth sense had a harsh shudder quaking down her back, so powerful it had her spinning around to check behind her.
She let out an involuntary shriek and reflexively jumped away from the outstretched arm that was poised to grab hold of her. The yelp caused a couple of people close by to turn around, maybe in the expectation of finding another scene being played out close by. Whatever the reason, it was enough to make her would-be assailant pause.
Melody stumbled backward, flustered and lost, her heart pounding from the fear and the knowledge that someone had been about to seize her.
Dear God! She surely must be wrong!
She carried on backing up regardless, her hand on the wall to steady herself. But as she raised her head to seek out the guy, so she could keep her eyes on him and his movements, she realised with a crushing apprehension that her initial suspicions had been right.
Alarm bells started going off in her head almost before her brain managed to comprehend what she was seeing. There was a deafening roar of white noise in her ears which drowned out everything around her and screamed at her to run.
Sheer panic besieged her senses. Her fight or flight reaction kicked in and everything around her sharpened. She knew the layout of this club intimately from the time she’d spent cleaning up when the place was empty. The obscure entrance to the restricted upper tier was behind her and to the left. There was thumbprint technology which Micah had scanned her into so she could move about easily to clear up after club nights. All she had to do was get over there and through the doors, where this creep wouldn’t be able to follow. If he did, there were dungeon monitors who could help her.
Hardly daring to take her eyes off of her pursuer, Melody flicked her gaze hastily across the room to judge the exact trajectory and the density of the crowd, then, without giving herself away, she whirled around and flew across the room, oblivious to anyone and anything except her desperate objective of escaping behind the safety of the electronic security doors.
Drinks spilled, and people cursed. Someone tried to grab her arm, but panic made her strong and she shook them off. Most jumped to get out of her way as she barged past, skidding to a halt, her arm already outstretched to make immediate contact with the thumb plate.
She looked behind her as she waited frantically for the mechanism to disengage. Melody found her eyes drawn, as if by some terrifying magnetism, toward a squat, heavy set body with a square face, unkempt, lanky hair and a dense moustache. Mean black eyes full of malevolence bored into her as he made his way unerringly across the floor in her wake. Melody”s eyes widened as he drew inexorably closer and her whole body trembled with fear as she listened for the tell-tale clunk of the locks releasing.
The moment she felt them give way, she leaned her entire body into the door to open it, slipping through as soon as the gap was wide enough for her to squeeze through the skinny frame she had never been more grateful for. The second she cleared the other side, Melody swung around and pressed the entire strength of her being into closing the breach so the automatic locks would kick back into place.
Because she did recognise the nasty, greasy looking man in front of her after all! He was one of V”s cronies, one of the beasts he’d invited to torment and brutalise her. One of the six.
And there was absolutely no doubt that his intention was to return her to her captor.