Page 69 of A Duke for Stealing
Rose smiled, despite her nervousness, and turned her masked face toward Everett. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel beautiful. She did. She was still in awe of where she was. Of what she looked like- and even though she wore a mask of black lace and silk around her eyes and the left part of her face, she felt more bare than she’d ever had in her life.
The dress Everett had designed for her was not at all her usual taste. The black silk, tunic-style dress had a plunging neckline that reached her sternum and exposed her cleavage, and the thin ropes for sleeves did nothing to cover her arms. Black, she had always thought, had never been her color, but after she’d donned her new dress, she considered that could have been mistaken.
“What if someone recognizes me?” She asked, looking back toward the common room of the Masquerade.
“Take a good look around, my good girl,” Everett whispered into her ear, pressing his chest to her back. “See why no one here cares to discover who you truly are.”
Rose took a steadying breath, and for the first time since they arrived a few minutes ago, she truly looked at those before her. The common room was shrouded in billowy curtains of black and red, and red candles had been placed on every possible surface. On top of the couches and chairs were masked and black-clad individuals. Some were chatting softly among themselves. Several men had women sitting on their laps. A few women sat while men remained kneeling before them on the floor. One woman was naked aside from her mask, and tied in a very exposing position in a chair while her partner stood right behind her, softly caressing her shoulders and neck, while others approached to ogle her.
Rose tensed slightly as she continued to watch the tied woman. She wanted to try something bold and new, but not that.
Everett was right. These people truly did not care who she was. They were too enraptured by the lustful energy of one another.
“Come along,” Everett commanded in a deep, low voice as he wrapped his arm around her bare back, “I shall show you more. Then you will tell me what you want to do next. This is your discovery, Rose. You will not be forced to do anything you do not want to do.”
Rose relaxed a little at his words and let her lead her into the room.
“Is anyone here forced to do these things?” She asked as they got closer to the tied woman.
“No,” Everett replied, “In fact, it is against the rules. Everything that happens here happens willingly. To do otherwise is to be cast from the club permanently.”
“She wants to be tied up like that?” Rose asked.
Everett stopped her as they stood almost directly before the tied woman.
“Take a good look at her face,” Everett urged. “Tell me what you see.”
At first, all Rose saw was the mask and ropes the woman wore. Then she took a breath, looked beyond those things and past the fact that she was so starkly naked, and gasped softly in surprise. The woman’s lips were parted, taking in deep, heavy breaths as the man behind her traced his fingertips wherever he pleased. Her lashes fluttered through the eyeholes of her mask, and though it was subtle, the woman’s body was undulating beneath the man’s touch.
“Oh my,” Rose breathed, feeling heat wash over her. “Shelovesit.”
“She does,” Everett agreed, moving her along. “And that is exactly what this place is for. To take part in what people love to feel, no matter how taboo it may be. Some people wanted to be dominated, like the woman in the chair or the men on their knees. Others want to dominate. Some like being exposed, tied, lashed. Some like to dally with one partner, and others seek those who want to dally as a group. And all those tastes are met here.”
Rose’s mind exploded with curiosity as Everett led her away from the common room. What did she want to feel? Experience?
“Rooms with a red sash around the doorknob indicate that others are welcome to join or view,” Everett explained as they came to a corridor of doors, “Ones marked with a black sash mean that those inside want their privacy. Choose your first door, Rose.”
Rose felt her anxiety shift into excitement as she was given the choice, and she reached for the first red sash on her right.
“Hmm,” Everett hummed as she opened the door, “These ones like to be lashed.”
In the center of the room stood what looked to be a metal four-post bed frame, with no bed in the middle. In between the posts, three people were tied at their wrists and feet so their bodies were spread out like anX.Moans poured from their mouths as their partners lashed them with different items along their backs and derrieres.
“What are those things?” Rose asked, pointing to what the three free were holding. “I recognize the crop, but that is all.”
Everett pressed his hand to his back again and led her not to the four-post frame, but to the wall to the left, where a myriad of items hung.
“Everyone has a different level of pain or pleasure they want to experience,” he explained, taking down a black crop, “For those that want more pain than pleasure, a crop, or a whip is better. What would you like to feel?”
Rose blushed at the question and glanced back at the others.
“We do not have to try it here,” Everett said before she could ask. “We can take these with us. Find an empty room and tie a black sash to the door.”
Rose sighed.
Good. I am not sure what I want yet, but I am certain I don’t want to be on display for others.
“The crop,” she said after consideration, “But not the whip.”
