CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The parking lot is absolutely packed. People are coming and going, dressed in vinyl and latex and leather. Some are even dressed in street clothes, but those are few and far between.
My heart is pounding in my chest as Janice kills the engine and steps out of the car. Now, more than ever, I wish my skirt was longer, or that I was skinnier, or that I could just disappear on the spot. I've never felt more out of place in my entire life, and we're not even inside yet.
“Are you ready?” Janice asks. There's a confident smile plastered across her face. If only I could have an ounce of her excitement. All I feel is dread. I don't even want to see Lucian anymore. This just isn't worth it.
I nod, because I have no other choice. If I said no, Janice would just coerce me to go inside anyway. Now that we're here, there's no turning back.
Briefly, I think about sending Lucian a text to let him know we've arrived. Even though we're late, he hasn't texted me. I'm not sure if that means he's pissed off, or that he's already forgotten about me.
We make our way to the door. There's a line going in, but it's short. Once we get to the doorman, he asks for twenty dollars a piece as an entry fee. My hands are shaking as I pull the money from my purse, and he gives me a curious grin, like he can tell I'm completely inexperienced and have no idea what I'm getting myself into.
“Go on in, girls. Have a good time,” he tells us, and we step into a world of flashing lights and music.
As soon as we've gone a few feet inside, I stop to get my bearings. The place is huge. There's a stage with a DJ and dancers. Scantily clad girls sway to the music in the middle of the dance floor with their partners. On one side of the dance floor is booths and exhibits. On the other side is two levels of seating. There appears to be a VIP area of sorts on the top floor, and a bunch of chairs and benches set up on the bottom floor for everyone else. My eyes briefly dart up to the top floor, but if Lucian is there, I can't see him.
“Let's go look.” Janice grabs my hand and pulls me over toward the booths.
“I need to find Lucian,” I tell her over the music. It's dubstep. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but definitely not dubstep.
“We can find him later. Make him wait, remember. Besides, if he spots you, he'll have to come get you. That's what you want.”
It's not what I want. None of this is what I want. I don't even want to be here. I thought that once we got inside, I'd feel better. Seeing all the gorgeous half-naked women walking around me though only makes me feel worse. I'm like a whale in a sea of Janices. These women are so beautiful it makes me sick. And I'm just...meh.
I try not to focus on it too much as I allow Janice to drag me from booth to booth. Some of them have sex toys. Others have fetish wear. Others have specific BDSM gear, like paddles or restraints. One booth is giving away free condoms, and Janice takes a fistful of them like a teenager who has never had access to them before. I don't even bother taking one, partly because she grabbed enough for both of us and also because Lucian refuses to wear them. I wonder where he is right now. I wonder if he sees me. I wonder if he's waiting for me to come to him.
My eyes wander to the VIP area again. I can't see up there very well through all the fog and the lasers that are dancing across it. Somehow, I know he's up there. He has to be. That's where all the wealthy lifestylers are.
“I don't think he can see me,” I say to Janice as she shops for nipple tassels.
“We'll go after I'm done here.” She doesn't even look at me.
“What do you need those for anyway?” I cock an eyebrow. She doesn't have a boyfriend right now.
“I want to wear them for Sir next time I see him. It will be a surprise,” she chirps as she picks out a pair with tiny red rhinestone hearts hanging off of them and takes them up to the vendor.
I watch people playing with glow sticks on the dance floor while Janice completes her transaction. Fleshfest isn't what I expected at all, to be honest. It reminds me more of a club than anything else. A club with a different dress code. Aside from the vendors and the outfits that everyone is wearing, it would be hard to tell that this is a kink festival. Then again, we haven't gone to the dungeon yet. I'm honestly not sure if I want to see it.
Janice steps up next to me with a small bag in her hand. “Are you ready?”
“Ready as I'm going to be.” I look down the line of vendors that we missed before taking a deep breath and walking across the room towards the stairs.
Janice's energy is almost annoying. She skips and dances when we pass through the dance floor. I'm starting to get the feeling that she'd much rather be wandering around on her own than tagging along with me. I'm being such an uptight buzzkill.
Maybe that will change when I get to Lucian. Probably not, though. This is all so alien to me, and even though I feel a lot more relaxed now that I know it's not just wall to wall submissives being teased by their Masters, I still feel out of place. This isn't my scene.
We reach the bottom of the stairs and are met by a scary looking guard. He seems even less happy to be here than I am, wearing what appears to be a permanent scowl along with his skin-tight shirt and pants.
“I'm looking for Lucian Reddick,” I say timidly.
He looks me up and down, but his expression doesn't change. “Name?”
“Amy Underwood. This is my friend Janice Elledge.” I'm not sure why I even bother telling him Janice's name. It's not like Lucian knows it.
“Go up.” The guard steps aside. He's so broad he reminds me of a door. There's no doubt in my mind that no one is going up these steps without his permission.
I lower my gaze as we walk past him and start up the stairs. By the time we reach the top, I'm breathless. I feel so out of shape. That's not the only reason my heart is speeding up though. I'm about to see Lucian in his element—in his world, as he called it, and I'm honestly not sure what to expect.
“We're looking for a guy with really blue eyes, right?” Janice steps up beside me and asks.
The top floor has better lighting than the bottom floor. Despite the fog floating around, visibility is pretty good.
For a second, I worry that Lucian got bored and left. Last time I checked my watch, it was a little past nine. I wouldn't blame him if he got fed up of waiting.
That's not the case though. It takes me a moment to pick him out of the sparse crowd upstairs, but when I do, it feels like my heart instantly turns to stone. He's sitting on a long sofa at the back of the room, and there's a girl on his lap.