The more I look, the wilder it gets. Even the couples that just seem to be dancing quietly are behaving like absolute beasts, one guy fingering his partner, one girl with both her hands around one man’s cock while kissing a second, two men kissing each other while grinding their bare cocks against one another.

I was right; it’s a club, except it’s not the kind where people come to dance and drink. This place is a sex club.

Some of the people here wear masks, others, not. Not that it matters; I wouldn’t recognize anyone.

I start to notice some strange things around the booths; yes, they have seats, but there aren’t any tables in the middle. Instead, one has a gymnast bench, used for a very different purpose than what I’ve seen before. A guy’s bent over it, ankles and wrists locked, and the man behind him flogs his bare ass. In the middle of another booth, this one empty, there’s a seven-foot tall wooden cross, with cuffs and chains. I don’t need to guess what it’s for.

Oh, fuck.

So much for not knowing people here. I see Charlotte. A hell of a lot more than I saw last night when she was in nothing but a drenched dress clinging to her skin. She’s completely naked, except for a network of white harness straps, which slither over her dark skin, around her breasts, her stomach, her thighs. It’s beautiful, in a completely inappropriate, perverse sense. And I’m not the only one to think so. Everyone seems to want to her their hands on her, and she basks in the attention, curving her back into their touch, smiling, looking drunk on adoration.

She likes this. She’s not faking it; no one could pretend to look this close to ecstasy.

It takes me a while to tear my eyes away from her, from the sheer pleasure she exudes.

We approach another empty booth, this one with a simple armchair chair set up in the center. My eyes immediately zero in on the brown leather restraints attached to it.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. That much is clear. Is it too late to change my mind?

Then I remember what will happen if I change my mind. I’d be in the exact same situation as I was two hours ago. Kicked out of school, my entire future destroyed.

“Take a seat,” the voice rasps.

I do as I’m told, and the six masked proceed to take their seats around me.

The armchair is comfortable. Upon inspection, I see the cuffs are lined with padded leather.

“So obedient. You’re a smart girl, aren’t you, Claire?” Blue Mask is the only one who remains standing.

I didn’t think that was a question, but he seems to wait for an answer, so I make myself nod.