Chapter 13 #2
Keld’s face swam, unbidden, to the forefront of Grayson’s mind. It had been doing that a lot lately, always accompanied by a wave of embarrassment. The memory of his forest scent, of his smooth scales under Grayson’s cheek, of the way he’d brushed that lock of hair off Grayson’s forehead—
“Hello? Grayson? Anyone home?”
Grayson jolted back to reality, coming face to face with Aureli. “Shit. Sorry. What’d you say?”
“Guess who I have a date with tonight?” Aureli’s brown eyes crinkled into a broad smile.
“Uh. That female Alpha you ditched us for?” Grayson dodged a good-natured smack to the arm.
“Molukti. And yes. Now guess where our date is.”
Grayson rolled his eyes. “How am I supposed to guess that?”
“I’ll give you a hint. Tara and Jenna will be there.”
Grayson stared at him, bewildered.
“The shibari workshop,” Aureli said impatiently. “Remember? We signed up for it weeks ago.”
A hazy memory of drinking in Tara’s living room resurfaced. “Oh yeah. I forgot.”
“You sure you don’t want to come?” Aureli grinned. “There’re still spots available.”
Grayson opened his mouth to refuse, but paused. Several days had passed since his drunken display at Vitor’s, and yet he couldn’t get Keld’s irritatingly handsome face out of his head.
“You know what?” he heard himself say. “Fuck it. Sure. I’ll go.” Maybe a different flavor of embarrassment would cancel out the first.
Aureli lit up. “Really? Awesome! It starts at eight, so we have some time to stop at home.”
“Sounds good.”
Grayson spent the rest of his shift alternating between shaking Keld’s face from his memory and imagining what a rope-tying class would even look like. He was already starting to regret agreeing to this.
“Did they bully you into going, too?” Grayson muttered to Jaeyong.
“Going where?” he said absently. He was filling out a digital form with his fingers in perfect typing position.
“That workshop. The rope one.”
Jaeyong’s hands froze and his face went pink. “Oh. That. Tara asked me again this morning, but I told her no.”
Grayson sighed. “I should have done the same thing.”
“You’re going?” Jaeyong twisted to look at him.
“I guess so.” Grayson slumped down in his desk chair. “I needed a distraction.”
“From?” Jaeyong returned to typing, though his high cheekbones remained rosy.
“That night at Vitor’s,” Grayson groaned. “That Alpha carrying me around like Prince Charming. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Jaeyong offered him a sympathetic look. “It wasn’t that bad. He was polite, and you didn’t puke or anything. Not like you’re going to talk to him again, right?”
“Hopefully not.” Grayson closed his eyes. “First the bad date, then the alley thing, then blacking out… God, I’m a mess.”
“You were a mess,” Jaeyong corrected. “You had two bad nights, that’s all.”
Grayson sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks Jaeyong.”
The younger man grinned. “Let me know how that shibari class goes.”
∞∞∞
The club was called Siren’s Rest, and it was packed.
The patrons were mostly human, with a few Mer sprinkled here and there.
An old-fashioned bar was tucked away in one corner, and another was dominated by a small stage.
A tiny human woman was arranging a series of colorful ropes on a display rack to the stage’s left.
The sign above it read “Shibari Workshop” in ornate, red lettering.
The entire space was lit with soft, dim yellow lighting, which was somehow comforting to Grayson.
He felt less like everyone was staring at him, though he was absolutely staring at all the Mer in attendance.
He’d seen plenty of unclothed Mer, as clothes were simply a human habit adopted by the alien invaders for the comfort of Earth’s citizens.
But even so, he got a little jolt of shock each time he saw one in full aquatic form.
“This place is so cool,” Tara said, her head on a swivel. “It looks like something out of an old movie.”
“If you ignore the bondage ropes, sure,” Jenna pointed out. The two women dissolved into giggles.
“Oh, look.” Grayson pointed. “Aureli.”
Their friend stood alongside a tall, elegant Mer with coppery orange scales.
Her face was several shades darker than the rest of her body, and her tail came to two points.
Ocher patterns marked her temples, matching the hue of her eyes.
Grayson could see why Aureli was so eager to abandon them at the pub, though he was personally feeling very grateful that Mer genitals were concealed within a slit.
Aureli spotted them and waved. “Hey, guys!” he said as they approached. “This is Malukti.”
“It is nice to meet you,” she said, flaring orange ear fins. Her voice was rich and melodic, accented by her native Loaish.
“Nice to meet you too.” Jenna beamed. “Have you been to one of these before?”
“A singles event? Yes. A bondage workshop? No.” The Alpha laughed. “However, an old friend of mine is a regular at this establishment. She is quite popular with Omega men. I thought it could not hurt to try.”
“Only the men?” Tara asked. There was a note of hope in her tone.
“Mostly the men,” Malukti amended. She reached back and began winding her dark ginger hair into a bun. “You would have a lot of competition.”
“Damn. Well, maybe I’ll meet someone exclusively into female Omegas tonight.” Tara scanned the crowd. “But it looks like there aren’t that many Mer here.”
“I don’t think kink is a thing with Mer,” Jenna said. “It’s more of a weird human thing.”
“Yes,” Malukti agreed, weaving a stick through her hair and pinning it in place. “It was introduced not long ago by human Omegas on the islands.”
Tara heaved a sigh. “Oh well. Jenna and I can take turns tying each other up.”
“What about me?” Grayson demanded.
“Threesome?” Jenna suggested, then burst out laughing.
Even Malukti chuckled. “In my experience at these events, attendees are usually paired at random. There will be an optional partner exchange at regular intervals.”
Aureli glanced up at her. “Are you going to exchange me?”
The Alpha elbowed him gently. “We shall see how well you can tie a knot.”
“Welcome to Siren’s Rest, singles!” The short woman Grayson had spied earlier was on stage, a microphone in one hand. “If I could have your attention for a few moments, please.”
Slowly, the chatter died down.
“My name is Alyssa and today is a singles’ event, learning the basics of shibari, an artistic form of Japanese bondage. So if that’s news to you, you might want to clear out.”
A chuckle rippled through the crowd.
“In the spirit of a singles’ event,” the woman went on, “I’ll ask you now to move at least five steps in any direction.”
Shuffling feet, hissed curses, and muttered apologies filled the air.
“You should now be standing side by side with total strangers. Pick one to be your first partner.”
Grayson’s face was already flushing as he glanced around at the people in his vicinity. Two women, a man with his eyes on a nearby Alpha, and—
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” a low voice said from behind him. “Seems like we’re going to be partners.”
Dread washed over every fiber of Grayson’s being as he slowly rotated to meet the eyes of the Alpha behind him.
Keld Vihinu. Again.