But she probably outclassed him like everybody else in this place . . . except for the morons in the dungeon. They were pols, and that was sorta his world. But he could not relate to getting whipped. He got punished plenty without any assistance. The knife wound was still healing good, for example, but he sure as hell knew it was there if he tried to raise the arm too high.

Leo was terrific looking—clean as a whistle and sexy as hell. He could get into her in a second, way into her. His equipment had been considered pretty sensational by some. Maybe she’d like a little taste.

He decided to give it a try. “Look, I’d like—” She rested her eyes on him, which instantly shut him up. “Let’s go downstairs,” he said, his voice husky with embarrassment. He couldn’t proposition her in here, for Chrissakes. He was no damn angel; he needed his privacy.

She strolled out into the foyer. He wasn’t quite sure where she was coming from, and he didn’t want to insult anybody. But he had to get it on somehow. He was human. He couldn’t just be left to Sally Five himself in his hotel room, not after all he’d seen and felt here tonight. He wanted to be loved, too. But since that didn’t seem likely to happen to him, maybe she’d just give him a break, here.

“I think you’re really—I mean, I could sure as hell give you a nice time. If you need a tip—if that’s the drill—”

“I want to show you a very special space now,” she said. She took his hand.

How anything could possibly top what he had seen so far, he could not imagine. This wasn’t just a place of pleasure. It was a whole new approach to pleasure, as something that did not need to be hidden and wasn’t a sin. Even the ones in the dungeon were learning that lesson, in their own peculiar way.

The people who could come here were immensely privileged. All of his life, he had thought that the social barriers by which we live were a tragedy. Miriam Blaylock, whom he viewed now as something of a young genius, was challenging those barriers here, and he was beginning to decide that she was succeeding.

They went down a back stairway, steel stairs in a fluorescent-lit well. There were doors with Exit signs all over the place and a hose station on every landing. He’d also noticed that the place was sprinklered and smoke-alarmed. “I’ve never seen so much safety equipment.”

“We’re very careful. You don’t want the least feeling of danger.”

“I’ve never felt so safe in my life.”

She squeezed his hand.

“Look,” he said, “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. Or insulted. I just—I find you, you know, really, really attractive.”

“I’m flattered.”