“How do you know until you’ve tried it?”

“It just seems…wrong.”

“Part of its appeal.” He leans over the table. “I won’t say there aren’t people who play for the wrong reasons, people who have deep psychological wounds that they’re reliving through BDSM, but for the rest of us, it’s just fun.”

My breath catches in my chest. “So you’re a…participant of BDSM?”

He gazes intensely into my eyes, like he’s trying to dig up something. “Not just a participant. I’m a hardcore fan.”

“Oh.” As I process how I feel about this revelation, I ask, “How long have you, um, been a participant?”

“Since college. There were these girls in my dorm who were nuts about Fifty Shades, so JD and I looked into it.”

“JD is into it, too?”

I think about Amy and how she hurts easily. She says that’s why she never did sports, too much potential for injury.

“Not lately,” he replies.

I breathe a sigh of relief for Amy before asking, “And has this always been a part of The Lotus?”

“Yes.”

He’s serious about this BDSM stuff. I really don’t know how I feel about that. I watch as the hooded man jams a vibrator between the woman’s legs. She comes in less than a minute.

“Pain can jack up adrenaline,” Darren explains, “making orgasms more intense. Couple that with the endorphins from arousal and you can get a pretty amazing high.”

Still skeptical, I say, “I’ll stick to plain old sex for now.”

He smiles as he sits back in his chair.

“What?”

“I like how you said ‘for now.’”

I probably should have followed that up with saying that I would never give BDSM a try, but for some reason, the idea is not as horrifying as I would have thought. In fact, I’m curious about it.

The woman tied to the post is having another orgasm. Already.

Chapter 7

DARREN

Past

Fuck. I did not expect this.

Unless I’m with a woman who I know plays in kink, I usually gauge a woman’s interest with something tamer, like spanking, rough sex, or tying her up and tormenting her nipples with pinching and biting.

But I spilled everything once Bridget walked over to the other side of The Lotus. I didn’t have to, but for some reason, I felt okay doing so with Bridget. Maybe it’s because she didn’t look completely horrified by what she saw. She even seemed a little intrigued.

I can see the wheels turning in her head. Deciding not to overwhelm her with too much at her first encounter with BDSM, I suggest we head back to JD and Amy, who might be wondering where her friend had gone off to, though I suspect she might be too far gone in her mojito and JD to give much thought to Bridget.

Back at my spot on the regular side of the club, I see that I’m right. JD and Amy are making out on the sofa like teenagers in the back of a movie theater. I was about to tell her we should head up to my residence, but she might have second thoughts now that she knows I’m into BDSM.