She texted Axel every morning, and now they also texted good night, too.
He had been researching, because he asked solid questions and had visited the websites she’d recommended.
He’d joined FetLife and friended her, although they hadn’t created a “relationship” between them yet. He’d also friended Rusty and the others on there.
It was ten minutes after the party’s listed arrival time. There were a few cars already parked along the cul-de-sac, and she remembered to follow the listed instructions from the party invite about where and how to park.
That’d suck if my first protocol violation was failing to park properly.
She shouldered her backpack and grabbed the wrapped pan holding the lasagna she’d made before she took a deep breath and headed up the walk.
Why does this shit always feel like the first day of tenth grade when I’m goddamned forty?
This would be easier if Axel was here.
Then again, maybe it wouldn’t. Since he hadn’t yet seen a real-life scene, it might freak him out. Definitely the first play party she brought him to she wouldn’t be playing that night, because she’d want to be able to narrate everything for him, talk to him about what he was seeing, and calm him down if there was a freak-out.
And tonight, after the stress of the divorce and move and everything else, shedesperatelyneeded a beating. Ahardbeating.
A brutal, borderline violent beating. It’d been going on the better part of two years since she’d played, and it’d become an almost painful physical craving to get one now that she was active in the lifestyle again. Seeing people playing at the club last weekend had felt like a gut-punch, because she couldn’t be one of them.
Forcing a smile, she rang the bell and tried not to hold her breath before the door opened and Cali’s smiling face beamed at her from the other side.
“Hey, welcome!” Cali gave her a one-armed hug, because under her other arm she held a black and white tuxedo cat. “This is Baxter, the bondage pussy star of our website. He’s about to get locked up for the night.” Cali closed the door once Skye stepped inside.
Skye reached out and scratched him under the chin. “Aw. That’s too bad. I love animals.”
“Well, so does pretty much everyone else who’s going to be here tonight. One night we literally had about twenty people gathered around a Sybian, watching him stalk it. Not exactly the kind of pussy play that thing usually sees.”
She snorted. “No!”
“Yeah. I wish I was making that up. It actually made it into one of Lynn’s books. Oh, Sean, can you show her where to put her dish and stuff?”
He turned from where he’d been talking to someone. “Sure. Come on.”
“Thanks.”
The fact that Cali hadn’t offered up either of her two men to top Skye, while offering herself up as a potential Top if Skye didn’t find one, didn’t escape Skye’s notice. She wasn’t about to press and ask Cali about it, either. Skye got it. In some dynamics, it was safest not to cross that line.
Although Skye wouldn’t mind having Cali top her if it got to that point, she’d prefer it be a guy she knew was totally into doing it. Not because she wanted to have some deeper bond with him, but because she didn’t want to have to worry about if whoever was topping her was enjoying themselves.
And she personally wasn’t into girls as anything but friends. She’d had women top her before, years ago, and it just…wasn’t the same, for her. Nothing against them.
Sean showed her where to drop her bag, too, and where the cups and markers were for drinks.
When Cali returned from her errand, she offered Skye a smile. “One pussy securely locked up.”
“Won’t be the only one tonight,” a man snarked from where he sat perched on the arm of the couch.
“True. Gilo, Abbey, this is Skye. She’s not new to the lifestyle, but a recent returnee to Sarasota and new to the scene here. She’s one of our newest suckers—I mean volunteers at the club. Gilo and Abbey are regulars, so you’ll probably see them a lot, here and there.”
Gilo held the end of a leash attached to Abbey’s collar. He stuck out his other hand to shake. “Nice to meet you. Welcome to the family, as it were.”
“Thanks. Nice to meet you, too.” Abbey didn’t extend a hand, so Skye didn’t, either, but she did tip her head to the woman and got one in return.
“I’m going to introduce her to Landry and Cris,” Cali said. “She’s looking for a service Top to play with tonight.”
Gilo winced. “I’m sorry.”
