‘Not tonight,’ I said. ‘Not in front of a crowd.’
‘I understand,’ said Victorian Gent. ‘What you’ve just done must have required enormous reserves of courage and strength. I imagine you need a bit of time to wind down.’
I nodded apologetically.
‘I was just going to watch some stuff now,’ I said. ‘But …’
I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t interested. A full-time master was what I had dreamed about all my life and he seemed to have serious potential.
He bent down to my ear and spoke so that only I could hear.
‘I’m very taken with you,’ he said. ‘I think you’re exactly what I’ve been looking for. Would you consider spending some more time with me?’
His voice was deadly, a witches brew of smoke and darkness.
‘I’m very experienced,’ he continued, ‘and I would take the best care of you. You couldn’t wish for a better master. Plenty of people here tonight can vouch for that.’
‘I promised myself that I would only have sex with Justin and Maz this weekend.’
‘That’s fine. But would you let me watch?’
‘I guess, if it’s OK with them.’
He turned to Justin and Maz and suggested a tryst in our hotel room at midnight. They were happy to agree.
He nodded rather formally, made arrangements to meet us at the staircase at the appointed hour and vanished into the crowd.
‘I need to sit down,’ I muttered, and Justin and Maz led me to an empty table in the banqueting hall where I collapsed on to a red velvet chair and began to cry.
‘Jeez, Keris, are you OK?’
Weirdly enough, I was. I was better than OK. But I’m a hopeless crybaby when the hormones are raging, and the intensity of the slave scene needed its outlet. I sobbed for two minutes, then felt a gorgeously deep relaxation sink into my bones, whereupon I dabbed my eyes and smiled at my friends.
‘Sorry. Just needed to let it out.’
Maz smiled sympathetically. ‘I know a few weepers in the scene,’ she said. ‘But, oh my God, Keris! Do you know who that was?’
I frowned at her. Was he some kind of famous person? He had the sleek silver fox thing going on – perhaps a newsreader? A politician? A retired sportsman?
‘His Lordship,’ pronounced Justin with reverence.
‘His Lordship? What, is he a member of the royal family or something?’
‘No.’ Maz giggled. ‘He’s not a real lord. That’s just what everyone calls him. He’s a major, major player on the scene. The most respected dom there is.’
Ah, OK. He was kink roya
lty, not the red carpet kind.
‘Yeah?’ I looked blearily around the room, my eyes beginning to refocus. Two people in head to toe gimp suits wandered by, connected by a pretty silver chain.
‘Yeah,’ said Justin. ‘He’s one of the people behind tonight’s extravaganza. He throws all the best parties and pervy weekends – a different theme every time. Some of them are ticket events, but most of them are private, just for him and his friends. Maz and I have been trying to get into the inner circle for ages, but it’s harder to break than the Enigma Code.’
Maz pinched my arm. ‘And you come along on your first night out and catch his eye. What the fuck?’
‘Sorry,’ I said.
‘No, don’t be sorry,’ they chorused, and Maz followed up with, ‘It’s cool. He’s coming to our room. This is our chance as well as yours. Are you interested in him?’