I was only for us to know. I knew I had to tread carefully, though. Freddy was definitely the kind of man who likely knew a few of the less nefarious types who
crawled along the underbelly of Myrtle Beach.
I wondered what she looked like, this paragon that Roxie wanted to deliver
to me. I’d wait, let the curiosity build. Roxie grabbed my attention when she stood up, bent down to kiss my cheek, and left me.
I had something to think about anyway.
A day of scouring websites and driving around to view properties had left me a little cranky, and I decided to change to scotch. I’d get a cab back to my place later. I went to the bar and ordered my drink.
Miss Maples came into the bar as I waited and sidled up next to me. “Good
to see you again, Mr. James. How are you?”
“I’m alright, Miss Maples. Lovely to see you again.” I tilted the glass with two cubes of ice at her, and she smiled.
She was a very seductive woman, especially in that corset wrapped around a
gossamer robe. Her hip bumped against mine, and I looked down into her darkly lined eyes. Her skin said she was only in her late twenties, but I knew plastic surgery could make that a lie. A person didn’t come to own a business like this at such a young age. Unless they made a lot of money early in life and spent it wisely. She could be as young as her face said she was, but then again, maybe not.
“You aren’t finding much luck here, it would seem.” She sat on a bar stool so I sat with her.
“Not yet, but I’m a patient man.” I nodded, and I scanned her with my eyes
while she ordered a drink.
Firm, high breasts said her face didn’t lie, and her hands were still full with the promise of youth. She had the kind of fingers made for pianos or guitars, but I’d never heard her play anything. A lush figure, encased in that corset promised heaven most people would never be lucky enough to find.
I’d been surrounded by beautiful women for days now, all with the promise
of sex so near, but yet, just out of reach for one reason or another. I was about ready to take the first lay offered to me, but I’d wait. I wanted to be clean for this little present Roxie offered me.
“She’ll come along. Maybe before you know it.” She sipped at her red wine,
her eyes on mine over the rim of her glass.
“So I’ve been told.” I didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t ask me to, so I let it go.
“What else is there to do in this place?” I asked, and she gave me an amused smile.
“Care to walk with me through the dungeon?” I had no idea what she meant,
but I was intrigued. Perhaps this was the rumored room on the third floor. I’d heard about it, but I hadn’t seen it yet.
It was for the exhibitionist members of the club, those who got off on being watched. Not necessarily my style, but it might be interesting to walk through such a place with Miss Maples. She finished her wine, and I threw back the rest of my scotch.
“I would love to join you, Miss Maples.” I held my elbow out, and she took
it without another word. We headed to the elevator I’d yet to use, and she inserted a card she’d pulled from beneath her corset into the slot in the elevator panel. “We need a card to get up there?”
“No, but we’re not going up. You need a card to go down.” She gave me another enigmatic smile, and my eyes narrowed on her. This was interesting.
The floor rushed down, and before I knew it, the doors opened up to a world of black. A real dungeon, perhaps? The flicker of flames on the wall caught my eyes as I stepped out, and she joined me. Her hand was still on my elbow, and she took a step forward. I followed, not sure where to head.
She took me down a long hallway, lit with gas lamps on the wall, a very old-fashioned but very romantic way to light an area. We walked down a white carpeted hall, and I found myself in a world where sound disappeared. There were no footsteps, no sound from the gas lamps on the wall, no sounds from the rooms that I found myself peering into.
There was a row of rooms here, all with a door, but large glass panels for walls. Inside the first room I saw a bare, rock floor and a couple who was completely oblivious to their new audience. A woman in shiny black vinyl whispered to a man chained to a wall. He looked the banker type, the kind of man who ruled with an iron fist all day long. His belly was soft, and his hair had receded. His body trembled now as the woman’s face brought him to a quivering
mass of subservience.
Interesting, and a direction I found interesting, but I wasn’t the kind to let anyone control me. “Hmmm, not your thing.”
“No, but it is nice to watch, Miss Maples.” I didn’t mind watching at all. The woman was an expert at what she offered; I could see that from the way she’d wrung the man out already.
“Allana is good; I’ll give you that.” She breathed in deep and then tugged at my arm. “Come along.”
We moved then to a room of white, lit by more gas lamps. The bed was white, the walls, the floor, even the hangings on the four poster bed were white.
The only spot of color came from the two women on the bed. They touched tenderly, sweetly, and I wanted to watch, but this wasn’t what I wanted either.
“I think this is more your style, Mr. James.” Her throaty voice all but purred.
A woman in a room of black, naked except for a mask across her eyes and
the black silk around her wrists. A man with a crop stood over her, and I stopped.
Yes, this was more my style. Definitely.
