Page 3 of Marked By Feral Monsters
They both give me strange looks. "Where do you think you are, honey?" Keely asks lightly.
"Uh, yeah. No, you're right. That was dumb. I'm just…" I let out a muted growl, and fall back against my chair. "I don't know what the fuck I'm doing here. My fiancé cheated on me, I quit my job in marketing, and the next thing I know, I'm a bottle of wine deep, filling out an application for a monster pleasure house, and deciding the thing I really need is to be forced out of my comfort zone. I should have cancelled everything when I woke up the next morning, but the idea of taking it back, retreating, when that's all I ever do, it just felt like I was stuck on this track, you know? This one-way train, and if I didn't get the fuck off and hop on a different train, I'd never know what else was out there. I'll drown in mediocrity. God, I really am predictable," I groan, dropping my head in my hands.
I feel that crazy edge again, where I'm about to do something drastic. To jump off the cliff without a parachute and see what happens. It buzzes beneath my skin, and I feel like I'm on the verge of running away screaming, or stripping off my clothes and begging the gnomes to do their worst.
They both blink slowly, wide-eyed. Then Keely lets out a bright laugh. Braden snickers and says, "Well, Lily, it sounds like you know exactly what you're doing here."
I blush and glance down at my fidgeting hands. "I guess I was hoping it was more the serving-drinks-and-wearing-sexy-clothes kind of place."
"Yeah, it is that. But it's something else, too. Don't worry. You'll find your groove. You don't have to sleep with everybody who asks. You don't even have to sleep with anyone if you don't want to, but you're not gonna make any money that way."
"Lap dances?" I ask hopefully.
Keely answers, "They aren't my favorite, but Braden loves to give lap dances. I like the cages and the private rooms. We both work the main floor. Braden likes the lower deck. But since you're new, you'll work the floor to start. And you're right; it is more like a bar. Honestly, most of the monsters just come here to relax and have a drink. It's one of the few places they aren't subjected to human judgement."
I blow out a breath, gently slapping the pamphlet on the table between us. "Any advice for a newbie?"
"My advice is to go with your gut. The thing about monsters is they're all about pheromones. The nicest ones to me, you might dislike, and vice versa."
Braden pipes in, "Exactly. They're all about scent and compatibility. Obviously, they pay us. Some of them—the werewolves, especially—tip very well."
"Why the werewolves especially?"
"They're more organized; they work as a pack, so they pool their resources, where a lot of the other monsters are loners until they meet their mates. There's also more of them, the werewolves, I mean, but their female population is low, like ten-to-one, so they crave companionship they can't find in the real world. And they're very sensual creatures. The wolves like to cuddle." Braden blushes, like he's had his fair share.
"So, do women come here, too?" I ask.
"Of all species, of course. Especially if they want the attention of another woman, since most of our employees are women. But the female weres, we don't see often, since there aren't many. And the straight ones have plenty of knots to choose from outside of here," he sighs. It sounds like a personal slight.
"What's a knot?"
Keely's eyes get real big, and Braden giggles. They spend the next ten minutes using dramatic hand gestures after flipping ahead in the pamphlet. Braden pulls out his phone to show me more pictures. I don't know how I've never heard of this before. I guess there's just so many monsters to keep track of, it never occurred to me to look up their genitalia.
I suppose when I applied for this job would've been a good time, but I was too busy clinging to willful ignorance.
Since the pleasure house was part-club, part-sex work, I knew humans had sex with the monsters, so I asked the twins how everything fit.
"There's always a way," Keely winks. "Don't worry, hun, you're gonna be fine. Just have fun. Honestly, if you stick to that, if you follow your instincts, this'll be the best job you've ever had. If you're curious and wanna get freaky, the lower deck is a good place to start."
"Yeah, they told me about that. They really come and just…" I gesture below the table. It's hard to imagine such a thing exists. Harder still, to imagine anyone making use of it.
The monsters can come here, have a drink, relax in good company, and get sucked off by a complete stranger beneath the table and never even have to see their face. They can orgasm mid-sip of their beer, then go right back to conversation.
I think about my old life. My office with the beige walls. My daily planner. Wednesday night sex. I still feel like I don't belong here. But something begins to unfurl inside me. The tight fist inmy chest that got me through the last few weeks, releases, just a bit.
The twins have to get back to work, so I thank them and say goodbye. I finish reading the pamphlet, and Mara returns shortly thereafter, raising an eyebrow at all my notes and tab dividers, but says nothing. She leads me down another network of halls, to the other side of the building, into the staff rooms.
The vibe is very different here. Far less sterile. More nineteenth-century French boudoir. Draped fabrics, chaise lounges, expensive paintings of ballerinas on the wall. Though when I look closely, it seems the ballerinas are doing more than dancing…
We pass Keely and Braden and a few other employees. Keely gives me a gift she thinks will make me feel more comfortable. Everyone seems happy here. More than that, I think these people actually enjoy their jobs.
I'm given a locker where I can put my things. I change behind a fabric screen and realize I'm overdressed compared to everyone else. Still, I slip on my tight-knit skirt, deciding to leave the tights off, and pull on my ripped band-t-shirt. It's a crop top with holes in it. Danny always nagged at me to throw it away. I'm glad I didn't because there was little else in my wardrobe that I could have worn tonight. And then I slip on the silk sparkly wings Keely gave me to look a little more monster-friendly, and it helps improve my outfit.
I'm definitely not dressed for the office.
"Head to the bar and ask for Eli. He'll give you some drinks and tell you which tables to serve. If you get side-tracked or a monster asks for your company, you can say yes if you want to. But I don't want you sleeping with anyone tonight. Not until you've learned all the opening and closing procedures. Until then, just be polite and tell them you're new. They'll back off.In a few days, we'll see if you're interested in the lower deck. Questions?"
A million. "No, I think I can handle it." And with that, Mara disappears, back down the hallway, toward the white, sterile side of the building, where they present a clean face to the public and prospective employees. Back here, there's so much color and activity, it's hard to believe both sides of the business are related.
