Chapter 3 #4
“True enough.” Hope bumped their shoulders together. “Less aggression and violence though.”
“I wasn’t raped, if that’s what you were asking.” Probably wasn’t raped. Or fine, yes, she had been. Maybe she’d agreed to some of what he’d done in the beginning, only then there had been the others…
It was years ago, girl. Get over it.
“I know the dungeon is downstairs, but I don’t want to…do anything. That’ll be okay, right?”
“Absolutely.” Mac gave her a reassuring smile. “Unless you’re in a scene, no means no. And no one touches without permission.”
“Okay then.” Ray hauled in a breath. “Take me downstairs so I can see what George made. And everything else should be interesting too.”
As long as she didn’t have a panic attack, right? And really, it was time she worked through her worries about BDSM. I’m not a fragile princess. Nope.
“Right. Off we go then.” Hope rose.
At the head of the stairs, security checked the back of their hands and let them proceed.
Downstairs was…
There were no words. Her only experience with BDSM was several years ago as a junior at the university. A kinky book led her to the campus BDSM club…and dating a man. After a taste of light bondage, she wanted more. He talked her into going to a private play party where her nightmare began.
She’d avoided even reading about BDSM ever since. Theodore was the closest she’d come—and he was bossy, not kinky.
Following Hope and MacKensie around the room, Ray couldn’t keep from staring at everything.
A bondage frame used for suspension occupied the very center with spanking benches and bondage tables around it.
The middle of the massive space was open to the rafters so people upstairs could lean over the railings and watch.
Around the perimeter, more scene areas were cordoned off with black stanchions and rope. Between each area, doors opened into theme rooms with wide display windows.
Ray tried her hardest not to gawk like a tourist.
But…wow.
At the private play party, there’d been only one decrepit, portable St. Andrew’s cross. Here were several of them—all being used.
Hope and MacKensie paused to watch a man tied to a bondage table. As his partner dripped wax on his chest, the poor man hissed with each drop.
Ow? Even as she shuddered, she couldn’t look away. No, no, I am not imagining how wax would feel dropping onto my breasts.
A leather-clad woman wielded a whip in one roped-off area.
In the adjacent space, a man flogged a woman who yelped with every blow.
Ray’s mouth had gone dry, and the whole room seemed too hot. Every couple of minutes, a sound or sight would remind her of…before…and make her shiver. Made her emotions whiplash so fast she couldn’t tell if she was turned-on or terrified.
Clenching her fingers, she pulled in a slow breath. I am strong; I can handle this.
“What was George planning to make for Chains?” MacKensie asked.
Her words registered after a second.
Right. “Um, two pieces of equipment were ordered, but there weren’t any specs.” Ray wrinkled her nose as she thought. “It just said a pentagram and a tantric chair. Is there anything similar around here to give me ideas of what’s needed?”
“Interesting.” MacKensie glanced at Hope. “Maybe they’re for Elfame?”
“I bet you’re right.” Hope explained to Ray, “It’s like an enchanted room with new-agey décor. Wood-crafted furniture would fit better than metal or synthetic stuff.”
“New age in a BDSM club? That’s all kinds of wrong.”
Hope sputtered a laugh and set off walking again. “For ideas… A St. Andrew’s cross or maybe the spiderweb would show you the size a pentagram would have to be. George did the spiderweb.”
“BDSM furniture has to accommodate a range of sizes,” MacKensie added. “Someone tied to the pentagram might be anywhere from five feet tall to maybe six-three.”
Tied to a pentagram. Oookay. Not wall art. A wooden five-pointed star big enough to what…restrain someone? The submissive could rest their head on the point at the top.
And restraints would probably be needed. Bind wrists to the left and right points. Ankles would be pulled apart at the bottom points. Huh, might be really cool. Did a person have to be pagan or Wiccan to use it? She almost laughed.
But a range of sizes? Duh, the whippee might not always be a woman. “An example would be good.”
After they checked out a couple of crosses in various shapes, Hope pointed to a six foot round wooden frame with a woman bound to intricate rope webbing.
“Yikes, it really does resemble a spiderweb.” Ray shivered. “I’m glad it’s not Halloween. Can you imagine if the Top dressed up like a massive spider? Talk about creepy.”
“What a fun theme idea.” Mac kept her voice low so as not to disturb the scene. “We could have a venomous creature night. Snakes and scorpions and spiders…”
Appalled, Ray took a step back. “You’re more sadistic than I thought you were.”
“Mac loves sci-fi and fantasy.” Hope snickered. “Last spring, she helped decorate the science fiction theme room. Lynn and I have bets on when she’ll talk the owner into an aliens-with-tentacles night.”
Mac grinned. “Alex thinks it would be fun.”
“Me too! Do submissives get to be Cthulhu?” Ray noticed the male Top was releasing the woman from the spiderweb. “Hey, when they’re gone, I want to check it out closer. And…I saw you and Hope half-watching the whip session over there.” She pointed to the corner. “Go watch it while I work.”
“You’re still really observant, aren’t you.” Hope grinned. “The whipmaster doesn’t show up here very often, and I love to watch him work.”
“You sure, Ray?” Mac frowned. “I don’t like leaving you alone.”
“I’m good.”
“Well okay.” MacKensie patted Ray’s arm. “We’ll be over at the corner. Come and get us if you need us.”
“Sure.”
So George made the spiderweb. In fact, she could see his craft in it, how the amber-colored rope webbing brought out the golden grain of the wood. It really was beautiful.
Finally, the Top and the woman were finished cleaning the equipment.
Ray pulled a tape measure and notepad from her boxers’ pocket. Might as well get some figures. She could block everything out while she worked, focus on what Faj created…and not what he might have been doing while he was here.