“I think.”
“We have a strict no socializing in public spaces rule with members not in your party. It’s to maintain a level of privacy for our guests. However, there are special areas designated for socializing. Bars, lounges, private rooms. These are all places people can speak with whomever they want. But public areas such as this are off limits.”
“That had to be killing Lizzy, not to come over and talk to you,” Knox whispers.
“Probably. I’ll get an ear full later tonight or tomorrow.”
Likely at lunch where she can be loud and inappropriate in front of lots of people.
The Shibari demonstration still has another thirty minutes before it starts, so we decide to go to Eden. She walks us down the hall Lizzy just disappeared into, passed several rooms and stops inside a large round room. The walls have four floor to ceiling mirrors in the corners, with water trickling down them distorting the reflection in the mirror. The floor is black, the walls are black, but the lights are a soft green.
“Here are the gates of Eden.” She holds her arms out to two large black doors with card access off to the right. On the left door is =D and on the right is =N. Together, spelling =D=N in large golden block letters.
“This is a new area we recently finished. It’s been open about four months now and very popular among some of our… clientele.”
The way she paused before she said clientele was interesting. There’s something layered into her words that I’m not picking up on yet, but the guys did. Or so it seems.
“This is our super exclusive section.”
“Membership fee?” Knox asks in a serious tone. It’s a little weird.
“Fifty thousand a year.”
I choke on the surrounding air. “Sorry.” I hold up my hand. “Parched,” I say tapping my throat, embarrassed about my uncomfortableness around large amounts of money.
Sammie smiles. “Fifty thousand per year, grants them access to this area, as well as guaranteed tickets to special events and soirees. They also have the ability to purchase a private room in Eden and stay up to two nights, if desired. Upon entry into Eden, they are also given a personal butler who will see to their every need and endless champagne.” She pauses to look at us. “This is really my baby and one thing I’m going to miss the most. Are you ready to see Eden?”
“Yes,” we all say in unison.
She scans her card and the doors open slowly and I wait for music to start playing or something and then I’m hit with it.
Eden.
Wow.
Simply, wow.
We walk through the doors and pause to admire its beauty. In front of us is a large two- or three-story room, with warm lights and a large tree planted in between two rectangular shaped areas inset into the ground. The front one appears to have water in it, perhaps only half a foot deep? The back, while I can’t see much around the trunk of the tree, appears to be dry and a little deeper.
“Our pool is ten point eight inches deep and heated to eighty-three degrees. There is a strict no sex policy in the front pool. However, the dry pool behind the tree is fair game.”
“Sounds like someone is enjoying themselves,” Jax says as echoes bounce through the room.
It’s like we’re in a completely different place. Whites, golds, and greens are the color choice of this area.
“Madame,” a man says with an Eastern European accent, appearing out of thin air, holding a tray of six champagne flutes.
“I will not be needing your services tonight. I’m just showing some friends around.”
“Understood Madame.” He nods and waits for us to grab the champagne before he retreats.
I tilt the bubbly up to my lips and nearly moan. That’s some damn good champagne. Holy shit. And I’m not one who likes a lot of champagnes.
Bertha appears, floating on her back, blowing water out of her trunk, swimming around the pool. I have no idea how an elephant is floating in that little of water, but I guess it helps she’s not real. She’s been appearing less over the last month or two. I don’t know why I started seeing her or why I’m seeing less of her now. The only thing I can think of is that she helped me process some of my less comfortable moments. Some sort of weird as fuck coping mechanism?
I shake my head to clear it and refocus on Sammie and the room. There are three rooms on the left and on the right of this open space. All white, with gold handles. Judging by the space between doors, these rooms seem to be two, if not three times, the size of the rooms in Allure.
“These are our rooms that members can purchase for overnight stays.” She walks down the right path. As we pass the large tree, there is a man wearing a mask with large golden curved horns atop his head watching two women sixty-nine, while he strokes himself.
