My heart picked up, unable to ascertain this man’s emotions—or anything else about him.
He laughed. “Who are men likeme, Nova?”
I didn’t speak. We were alone in a dim hallway, and I still felt the influence of Wes’s mind meddling. I was absurdly confident for someone facing down an unknown masked man.
“Hmm,” he said. I let out a breath of relief when he slowly took off his mask, revealing an attractive man in his late twenties. He fluffed up his dark brown hair, and his lips curved. “The deeper meaning being that true, radically honest intimacy—even when difficult and painful—is far more fulfilling than the fleeting sexual indulgences offered by a seductive sex cult?”
I smiled. “Exactly.”
“A romantic,” he purred. “How sweet.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Let me guess: you and your dress-up pals think it’s a man’s nature to spread his seed across international waters, and monogamy is a cage,” I said, matching his condescending tone.
His dark eyes flashed, his smile slowly widening. “And you love cages, don’t you, Nova?”
My confidence faltered, and he saw it, his cocky features lighting up with satisfaction.
“Be careful who you trust,” he said. “Not everyone is who they seem.”
I studied him suspiciously. “Oh? And who areyou?”
“Roman,” he said, sticking out a broad hand.
I begrudgingly took it, though the shake lingered for far too long. He watched me, as if waiting for recognition. When I lifted a brow, he released me. If he was a celebrity or something, I didn’t recognize him.
“This is going to be so much fun,” he said, eyes sparkling. There was something dark about his expression, like we were playing a game I wasn’t privy to. “Do you know what happens at Midsummer?” he asked.
“Vaguely.”
He smiled. “I want to get to know you better. Rest assured, the winning bid will be mine,” he said.
I heard footsteps growing closer. I didn’t understand what Roman meant, but before I could ask, his mask was back on, and he was walking toward the room that reeked of cigars and power.
That was a door I had no interest in opening again.
Two women in lingerie strutted past me as I headed for the stairs. One of them had a collar around her throat, holding her own leash.Sad.
I didn’t have a phone, and I was in a huge, unfamiliar church. How the fuck was I going to find Wes?
On the lower level, a man in latex underwear and a dog mask scurried around on all fours. A woman in tall, thin stilettos marched in front of him, a whip in hand.
It seemed clear we had progressed past PG-13 territory. If this was considered a more casual event, what the hell awaited me at my first party?
My first guess as to Wes’s whereabouts was where I’d left him.
Great minds clearly thought alike. When I slipped into the nave, Wes was sitting in the front pew, listening to my enemy talk about dungeon etiquette to a much smaller crowd.
The auburn-haired woman’s face soured the moment she spotted me moving toward Wes. “As I was saying,” she continued, “don’t interrupt anyone’s scenes. Alert a safety monitor with a badge if you suspect someone is in danger, but there will be scenes involving consensual non-consent, abduction play, blood play, watersports, and all manner of seemingly violent or degrading acts. Just because something is not to your taste or within your own risk profile does not mean the participants are unwilling or being harmed.”
Wes turned his head when I sat next to him. “Are you okay?” When I nodded, he whispered, “You should listen to this.”
“Is that an order?”
His lips twitched, his head moving close to my ear. The warmth of his breath tickled my skin, sending a shiver down my spine. “Pay attention, Nova.”
“If you hear someone say the universal safe word,red, and their partner doesn’t hear them or doesn’t stop, you may intervene on their behalf or alert a monitor,” the bitchy receptionist continued. “Red means the scene will come to a complete endimmediatelyand will not resume. Do not assume that because you hear the wordsnoorstopthe person speaking doesn’t want the scene to continue. Many people engaging in dark roleplay do not consider those words to be safe words, as resistance may be a desired and pre-negotiated part of the scene. It is up to individuals to negotiate their own boundaries and risk-aware practices. I would advise anyone new to kink to err on the side of caution and wait to engage in CNC play until they have more experience with setting boundaries and using safe words.”
She continued outlining the basics of affirmative consent and negotiation, how to ask someone new to play without being pushy, and the consequences for consent violations or coercion. To my relief, violators earned an immediate lifetime ban.
