Chapter 15 #3
“Renshaw Booth?” He paused, thinking. “You were invited by Barber. You related?”
“My brother,” I admitted, forcing myself to be polite even though I was very much in a rush.
He grimaced and pointed at my face. “You will follow all the party rules or you’ll be out on your ass. You get me?”
“Yes.” What the hell had Luke done? “Of course.”
“Good. I better not hear about anything being broken or set on fire, either. Right inside you’ll find a reception desk. They’ll explain the rules. Follow them or you won’t like what happens.” The guy yanked back a black curtain, and I nodded in thanks as we slipped behind it.
The low glow around us provided just enough light to see another man standing behind a gleaming black wooden desk. He was tall and slim, filling out a swanky suit that I couldn’t quite catch the color of because he was in shadows.
“This way, please.” The accent—Scottish—filled the space between us and I dragged KC and Oliver toward the desk.
I couldn’t get a good look at the employee, but his long hair gleamed where it pooled around his shoulders.
“The rules of this game are straightforward. One or two of you are the prey, and the other one or two are the predators. This is fantasy involving primal, animalistic desires. The predator or predators will wear a mask and chase the prey.” He flashed glow-in-the-dark wristbands.
One was a bright red, another green. “You may choose to play with only each other and wear the red bands or play with others and wear the green.”
“Red,” I said. “Only fucking red.”
The man chuckled but passed over three wristbands. I helped KC and Oliver secure theirs before I did the same for mine.
“Now, a code word. If someone finds you, they may not sexually touch you until you have given them the correct code word. I will give you the codes to stop any overlap.” He passed us two folded pieces of paper.
One for the prey and one for the predator.
I opened mine and snickered at the word inside.
“Motorcycle.” Original. Not. “What’s yours?”
KC smothered a chuckle while Oliver huffed.
“Kitten,” Oliver answered, and even in the dim light, his body language gave away his irritation.
“Fits you both.” I winked.
“Finally, there will be a universal safe word within the maze. It must be followed at all times. Here at Black Out, we care about our patrons. If safe words are ignored, then you will be kicked out of this club and banned. And if we’re feeling particularly cruel, we may make sure the entire kink community knows about your reputation.
” His tone bled seriousness, but it also sounded sexy with his accent. “Am. I. Clear?”
“Yes,” we all said.
“Good. The safe word is Cardinal. Like the red bird. Do not disregard it if it’s said to you.
” The warning thickened his brogue. “We will begin shortly. The prey has two minutes to enter the maze and hide, or run, whatever they choose. Then, a horn will signal the predators to chase. How many predator masks do you need?”
I peeked at KC, judging his mood, but one look from him was the answer I needed. “One. Just me.”
A black mask with a glow-in-the-dark red outline was passed to me, and I noted behind the desk were a bunch of other guys already wearing them. The colors were either green or red, so I assumed it was another sign of whether we were here to play or stay with our partner.
“The maze’s lights will flicker to create a mysterious atmosphere. Do any of you have a medical condition that’ll affect you because of this?”
“No,” we all dutifully said.
“You will need to sign waivers. Please read your contract carefully. It states secrecy is a must and what happens in Black Out, stays in Black Out. Breaking these rules will result in your invitation being revoked and you’ll never be allowed here again.”
Next, he passed us the contracts. One for each of us. Then, he flicked on a light at the desk so we could read. I blinked at the sudden brightness. The Scot was still hidden in the shadows.
“Maze? Chase?” Oliver leaned in closer, his pupils wide and eyes excited. “Are we really doing this?”
I grinned, proud of myself. “You want me to chase you both, Kitten? I’m going to find you and then fuck you. What do you think about that?”
A moan rippled from KC and he shifted closer to me. “Fucking hell. I’m so hard already.”
“Good,” I murmured. “Now read that contract and fill it out. We’re supposed to start at nine.” I checked my phone. It was 8:50 p.m.
I read through the contract as fast as I could. It was about what I’d expect from a BDSM event. Black Out claimed no responsibility for any injuries.
Blah blah blah.
As soon as I was done reading, I signed my name at the bottom, then printed it.
“License.” The Scot held out his hand as I passed back the contract, and I gave him my ID.
Once he was satisfied, he did the same with KC and Oliver.
“All looks to be in order. Predator, please mask up. You may all move over to the waiting area. We’ll start momentarily.
” He waved toward the other glowing masks.
I slid the mask onto the top of my head and took KC and Oliver by the hand, leading them in the direction of the crowd. Oliver was bouncing on his toes in excitement. I knew he’d have fun, but not before we’d even begun.
“Shouldn’t we pay for this?” KC asked, ever the rational one.
“I already did. I passed the money on to Luke, and he gave it to the manager here.” I shrugged. Luke was the only reason I had a chance of getting near Black Out and its events. It was very exclusive and you had to know someone to get an invite.
“This is going to be awesome.” Oliver’s fingers tightened on mine.
“Sure is, Kitten.”
A small spotlight fired up in front of us and a familiar face walked into it.
Ashton Steel, otherwise known as Casper in the Kings of Men MC, was the manager of Black Out.
His name and everything about him had come up in my research for revenge, and he hadn’t made it on my radar as being close with Luke.
Still, he was impressive. He ran Black Out with an iron fist, and he wasn’t bad-looking, either.
According to my notes, Steel was thirty-six.
He was handsome, with bleached white hair and colorful tattoos that spread down his neck and across his torso.
Of course, you couldn’t see much tonight with him wearing his Kings cut.
Clearly, he was here to prove a point—don’t fuck with us or there’ll be consequences—because as far as I knew he avoided the Kings of Men insignia at Black Out.