Chapter 10
What. The. Fuck .
Nala hadn’t been in the sex club for fifteen minutes before she saw her fourth pair of boobs and smelled what could only be described as sweaty sex stuff. The entrance lounge, full of clothed people flirting and drinking at a bar, was nothing compared to the downstairs depravity. So. Many. People.
Doing God knew what!
Nala kept a straight face as her sweater was taken at a coat check.
She managed to not let her voice waver when Varen asked her if she wanted a drink.
And by some sweet, Godly miracle she kept her shit together when they entered a large VIP area and came face to face with four other couples wearing glittery masks.
“Gale!” Robin rushed in their direction. “Check this out! Oh, if your Mistress allows.”
Fuck calling this woman my Mistress. Nala covered her sneer with the back of her hand and morphed it into a sweet smile. “I’m sure she will. Won’t you, ma’am?”
Varen gently pushed against her. “Go on, then. I’ve got business to talk about, anyway.”
Giggling, Robin led Nala away to a terrace overlooking the sexual revelry going on below.
Although they were on a subterranean level, there were still multiple floors, with the VIP area high above in a private corner, full of leather couches and complimentary drinks.
Xan Ravenwood never spared any expenses, regardless of where he hosted his voyeuristic parties.
Holy shit, this town is full of perverts.
Surely, every town in the world was full of its share of pervs, but Nala couldn’t comment on the level of depravity occurring in Carson City or her mother’s hometown of Korolyov.
She only knew about Portland right now, and Portland was looking to be one of the biggest hotbeds of sex freaks Nala had ever heard of.
So many naked people. So. Many. People who weren’t in their birthday suits tottered about with tits hanging out or genitals catching air.
There are more goods in this room than in a locker room.
Nala knocked back some of her highball to erase the image from her head, if only for a few seconds.
God knew it would pop back in soon enough.
Oh, like now, when she glanced down and had the misfortune of seeing a woman in a sparkly yellow halter top drop to her knees and go to town on the person next to her.
“You ever seen anything like it before?”
The mirth on Robin’s fair face made Nala want to shake her head.
“I’m glad I’m not down there. It’s bad enough all those people will flirt with me and make my Dom jealous. He can get pretty possessive.”
She giggled again, informing Nala that this aspect of her boyfriend’s personality did not bother her.
Weirdo. Even if Nala were in a real relationship with Varen, there was no way in hell she’d let her be possessive like that. Gross.
“Come on!” Robin pulled on Nala’s arm, urging her to join the group of girls meeting by the terrace. “Just because we can’t join them down there doesn’t mean we can’t be admired.”
Sure enough, Robin perched on the arm of a sofa and wiggled her fingers at a group of guys passing by downstairs. They whistled up at her, and she blew them a kiss.
“You hussy,” Starling admonished with a grin. “If Mr. Ravenwood finds out you’re being a bad girl, you might get Master Lucian in trouble.”
“He can fend for himself,” Robin said with a huff. “He doesn’t need me protecting him. It’s his job to protect me.”
Nala knew this was her opportunity to get some information. “What do you mean he could be in trouble? Why does Mr. Ravenwood care?”
“Master Ravenwood,” three girls corrected her. Maggie was the only one silent, although amused by the situation.
“Sorry. Master.” Gag. “So, why does he care? It’s your business what you do.”
“Maybe out there, but in The Aviary, we have to play by Master Ravenwood’s rules,” Quail said, curled up in a corner of the couch.
“He puts all our dominants to shame when it comes to controlling what we do. After you perform the first time, you’ll sign a contract saying that you’ll remain loyal to your dominant – and any other club member who wants you.”
“What?”
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” Maggie asked. “We’re all pretty birds in a cage. Meant to be admired, to sing for those passing by, and, most of all, to go to any dominant who calls them. You may go home with your Mistress, but while you’re here, you have to do whatever Master Ravenwood says.
If Master Lucian approaches Mistress Varen to sleep with you, well… if Master Ravenwood decides he likes the idea, he’ll tell you to do it.”
Nala’s jaw dropped into her lap. She looked at Robin, who remained nonchalant at the idea of her “Master” dallying with another woman in the group.
“Relax. It’s what you sign up for joining this private club. It’s great fun, really. Last month, Master Lucian decided to get a taste of Quail, if you know what I mean. Hmph. Doesn’t matter to me. We made a proper swap out of it.”
“Beyond that, we don’t kiss and tell,” Quail said.
“Master Lucian has told me that he thinks you’re lovely,” Robin continued, grinning like an idiot. “Maybe we’ll swap.”
That was weird. This was weird. Seemed to Nala that one of the cornerstones of BDSM was staying true. Maybe the occasional dalliance with the other’s approval, but to make a lifestyle out of it? Well, she wouldn’t declare herself an expert by any means. She was playing all of this by ear.
“If you don’t like the idea of your Mistress sleeping with one of us…”
Quail said, interrupting Nala’s thoughts, “then you need to discuss that privately with her. You should consider it, though. If she lets you sleep with one of the others, she’ll get a nice kickback for her business from Master Ravenwood.”
“Oh, yes.” Maggie forced back a chuckle. “Master Ravenwood gets off on us being used like dolls.”
“We don’t have to… with him… do we?” Nala hadn’t considered that.
Until tonight, she thought The Aviary was a sexual club for dedicated couples.
She knew Maggie and Jay were married. Robin and Lucian were together forever.
Starling and her Mistress, Josephine, were as good as engaged, or at least couldn’t stop talking about wedding plans.
Aside from Nala, Quail was in the newest relationship.
“Oh, no, Gale. He doesn’t touch us. Just watches.”
“And watches and watches.” Maggie pulled out a cigarette, holding it away from the gaggle of girl talk.
“This is a lot to take in.”
“Would’ve thought you knew already. Can’t imagine Master Ravenwood letting a couple in without at least the Mistress knowing the details. Didn’t Mistress Varen tell you?”
“I feel like there’s a lot she hasn’t told me yet.”
The other women exchanged glances. “Young relationships,” Maggie said carefully. “I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to not have a psychic connection with Ja… my Master.”
Nala held the older woman’s gaze for longer than acceptable.
During that time, Maggie winked, a delicate pink fingernail pressing against her lips – out of sight from the other women around them.
What is up with her? Nala wasn’t unnerved by Maggie, but she was suspicious of her. Her instincts were rarely wrong.
The party continued around them, the general rabble of Portland’s sex fiends having fun down below while The Aviary fluttered about in their VIP loft.
Xan Ravenwood’s arrival was marked by a gorgeous woman stepping in with bondage gear clad all over her nubile body.
The men whistled, the women expressed their jealousy, and Xan Ravenwood put his arm protectively around the woman he dubbed Hawk and said she would be joining them for the evening.
“Reconvene by the bar,” Varen muttered in Nala’s ear as they passed each other. “I suppose you could say that’s an order.”
It should’ve been a joke, but coming from Varen Lake, it was more like a dry attempt at humor.
“This club is fucked as fucking fucked up,” Nala whispered the moment they had a semblance of privacy.
Varen stood between her and the rest of the party, including Hawk, who offered to demonstrate on Robin’s ass how one properly used a paddle.
To the sounds of that girl squealing in delight with every smack of her skin, Nala continued, “You didn’t tell me that if one of the others wants to fuck me, I have to say yes or get us kicked out.”
“Thought that would come up later.”
“Fuck off. You knew and didn’t tell me.”
“You said you would do whatever it takes to avenge your sister. Well?”
“Well, what? Would I fuck one of the other guys here if it means staying in this club?” Nala snorted. “Fuck. Off. You don’t get to ask me that.”
“All right. While you were finding that out, I discovered that Miss Hawk here is the first date Ravenwood has brought pretty much since he founded The Aviary a year ago.”
“A year?” That was the only piece of information Nala cared about. “It’s been going on that long? Surely, he didn’t have a couple of members for so long.”
“No. There have been other couples who are no longer members. Some of whom… disappeared.”
“Who?”
“Nobody knows, because their real names weren’t known. Especially the subs.”
“You think he had them killed too?”
“I don’t know.” Varen poured herself a hasty drink, knocking back liquor like it was candy. “We both need to tread lightly. Don’t piss him off. He likes us, for now. He’ll like us even better if we fall in line and don’t bend the rules too much.”
“You mean…”
“Varen! Nightingale!” Xan appeared behind them, his stocky gait making him waddle as he propped himself up with a silver-tipped cane.
Nala heard something about a trip in his office.
And I’m the mayor of Portland. “Isn’t this place divine? Do take the time to enjoy Hawk’s displays. We’ll also have a demonstration by Josephine and Starling in a few minutes. They say they’ve been practicing all week.”
Nala nodded politely, choosing to stay close to her “Mistress.”
Thus far she had built up an image of a girl who was quiet around the other dominants in the group.
Hopefully that doesn’t make me attractive.
She didn’t think she could take any propositions.
She wasn’t even sleeping with Varen. What made anyone think she would fuck Lucian or Seba or Jay or Josephine?