All eyes moved to him. He was entirely unreadable. His arms were crossed, but his stance was otherwise cool and relaxed. Something unexpectedly sour turned over in my guts, ruining all my twisted fantasies in an instant.
“Flattered,” Wes finally said, though his face showed no reaction at all.
The room erupted in soft laughter and a few whispered remarks.
Irritated, I ripped my gaze away.
“Can’t say I blame you for that,” the man said with a wink, momentarily breaking character and pulling another round of low laughter from the crowd.
The breaking of the fourth wall soothed something inside me, and I was surprised to find my muscles relaxing an inch.
The woman grinned up at him.
“Mmm, what to do with a whore like you…” He shoved her to the floor. “Ass up.”
She spread her arms out and clasped them as if in prayer while one of the other girls handed him a paddle.
He struck her, and a resoundingcrackrang through the air. I held my breath, too many conflicting feelings rushing to my mind to parse through.
“Thank you, my Lord.”
Each time he paddled her, she thanked him, her voice coming out breathier each time. When he was done, he instructed her to turn over onto her back.
My eyes widened when he placed a heavy black boot on her cunt.
“Your God is a possessive god,” he said. “But tonight, you will serve your community. You are not to be touched, but anyone may paddle you at any time. You are not permitted to wear any clothing for the remainder of the evening.”
“Yes, my Lord,” she said.
“Good girl,” he purred, the tone softer for the first time. “Get to it.”
He left her there on the floor, his other two subs following closely behind him as he left the room. The room clapped softly.
“You should see them at parties,” Hector said to me. “I’ve never seen Kingston hold himself back like that.”
“That was him holding back?” I whispered before I could stop myself.
Hector laughed. “Soirées are like foreplay, teases of what’s to come.”
“I’m guessing you’re a member then?” I asked.
“Most of us are.”
I glanced at Maisy, hoping that remark hadn’t hurt her feelings, but she was too busy flirting with Jeffrey to care or even notice.
“I think there’s something happening in the red room,” Hector continued. “If you wanted to check it out before dinner is served.”
“Oh, um…” I hesitated.
The only red room I knew was Christian Grey’s, though I’d heard kinky people hated that representation of BDSM. In high school, I binged all three books in secret and sobbed when I finished, overcome with shame. I didn’t touch another book for weeks.
“Okay,” I heard myself say, willing to do anything to escape my own discomfort.
He led me away from the group, his hand briefly touching my lower back to guide me in the right direction. We left through a different door, into what I now understood was an endless maze of rooms and doors and halls.
The moment I’d stepped foot inside The Circle’s sanctuary, I’d entered a liminal space, a world between worlds. That feeling only amplified when I stepped into a dark room illuminated only with red light. The door closed behind us, and it was deathly quiet for a moment, as if the space was soundproofed.
Perhaps tonight was the night I got serial murdered in a Gothic church by the VP of an investment bank.
