“Hey. Hey! You can stop now.” I look down at the base of the stage to see the clipboard guy making an annoyed face at us. “The song is over.”

I’d been having so much fun that I hadn’t even noticed the music change. I grin at Cosette as we slide down. “I haven’t had that much fun in forever.”

Clipboard guy rolls his eyes, then looks at Cosette. “Congratulations, you got the job,” and then he looks at me. “You too.”

“Oh, no,” I shake my head. “I wasn’t auditioning.”

He shrugs. “My boss liked you, so you’re in if you want to be.” He hands us each a piece of paper. “I’m Randall, I handle the club talent. Everyone else has gotten a head start on the paper work, so if you want to come with me, we’ll get you started and give you a tour of the club.”

Cosette holds her hand up for a high five. “Good job! It’ll be fun…working together.”

Something in her tone makes me think that she doesn’t really think that, and that’s okay. I already have a job that pays my bills—even if just barely. This was fun, but dancing in a sex club? “Don’t worry, babe. I’ve got a job. Go fill out the paperwork, I’ll hang out until you’re done.”

I swear that Randall rolls his eyes again, but Cosette looks relieved. “Okay. I’ll find you when I’m finished.”

Randall is already moving towards the back of the club and Cosette has to sprint to keep up. Once she disappears, I realize just how thirsty all the dancing has made me. I head back to the bar to get a drink, but I don’t make it all the way there. A hand grabs mine, stopping me in place, and a deep voice says, “I can give you a tour anyway, even if you don’t want the job.”

I turn and have to look up. If it’s possible, he’s hotter up close, and the way he’s looking at me does sinful things to my body—the kind of things that I read about and always wished would be true. Which is what is making me think that this is all a dream. “Go on a ‘tour’ of a sex club with a total stranger?” I give him a smirk. “If I’m going to do that, I think I should at least know your name.”

He smiles, bowing in a mock salute, “Julian Rivers. Welcome to my club.”

“Your club? You own this place?”

“With two friends, yes.”

I had assumed he saw the audition sign and overheard that I wasn’t taking the job, but now, “You’re the one who told Randall to offer me the job.”

“You don’t miss anything do you?” He laughs. “Yeah, I am. You were a natural up there—and damn sexy too.” He takes a step closer. “I liked the way you danced while I was looking at you. You touched yourself like you wished someone else was doing it.”

His hand is still holding mine, his thumb stroking along my skin and emphasizing his words. He isn’t wrong. God this is crazy. Cosette is the sexy one, the one who goes to clubs and picks up guys. Not me. I’m the girl who prefers romance novels to the real thing because nothing will ever measure up. I’m the girl who drinks tea and stays in watching TV. I don’t flirt with hot strangers in sex clubs.

But just for tonight, maybe I can. He’s still talking, voice sweeping across my skin like honey. It’s smooth and strong, just the way I imagine he’d be in…other situations. “You move like the music is a part of you.”

“I tried to be a dancer for a while,” I admit, “but I was never good enough to make it as a professional.”

“Whoever told you that is flat-out wrong.”

I raise an eyebrow, “In that case, you can buy me a drink. It’s always nice to have a fan.”

“Fan isn’t really what I’d call myself, I was thinking more of a groupie.”

“You mean the people who follow celebrities around and try to sleep with—” I freeze, my face going bright red as I realize exactly what he’s saying. I clear my throat. “I see.”

“Do you?”

He’s still holding my hand, and I pull him towards me, putting his fingers on the bare skin of my waist. “I think I do. But you have to answer this: Are you attracted to me because you saw me dance, or are you coming onto me because I’m a newcomer in a sex club and clearly have no idea what I’m doing?”

Julian’s eyes darken, and his hand slides around my waist to my lower back, fingers dipping dangerously close to the waistband of my pants. His voice is low, and I can just hear him over the noise of the club, the words humming in my ear and making my heart race. “I’m attracted to you. Even if I hadn’t seen you dance I would have seen you from across the room. Even if you had been simply walking down the street, I would be drawn to you. And after seeing you dance like that, I have no doubt that you know exactly what you’re doing.”

I swallow, suddenly aware of how close we’re standing, that if I took a step closer I’d be pressed up against him. I fight that thought, even though it’s the most appealing idea I’ve had in a long time.

“And you still haven’t told me your name,” he says in that same smooth tone.

“Libby. Libby Valentina,” I say, swallowing again.

Someone crashes into me from behind, and suddenly I’m flush against Julian’s body. His arms come around me, holding me in place, shielding me from being knocked further. My entire body lights up like a firework, like going from zero to sixty. My nipples are diamond hard pressing into his chest, and I’m suddenly wet. And it’s not just me. Julian is hard. Harder than hard, and huge and all of it is pressed up against me so I can tell exactly what’s on his mind. It’s on my mind now too. Damn it all to hell. What is wrong with me? You don’t even know this guy. It’s just the fact that you’re in a sex club and everything is new and exciting. You’re not actually this turned on.

I pull away from him, even though my body doesn’t want me to, and he lets me go.

“Do you still want that tour?”

“Sure,” I nod, because even if I’m not ready to jump into bed with him, I don’t want to leave. I want to keep listening to him speak in that perfect silky voice, and I want to keep imagining what might happen if he keeps touching me. Julian pulls me away from the bar and toward the edge of the room where all of the sex is happening, and I don’t fight it as he takes my hand again, keeping our fingers entwined. There are raised platforms, brightly lit, with couches and chairs hidden in the shadows around them so that people can watch if they wish. The very first platform we come to has me blushing all over again. A woman is tied to a table, unable to move as one man feeds her his cock, and another feasts on her pussy. Even though her mouth is full, I can hear her moaning.

“I didn’t think that places like this really existed,” I tell Julian.

“Why not?”

I shrug. “I don’t know…I just, never imagined it.”

“I would have thought someone as sexy as you would look for a place like this?”

“Me?” I laugh. “No.”

Julian makes a sound of consideration, pulling me along to the next stage, which is actually more central in the club, and features a giant, brightly lit glass box. You can see it from anywhere in the club—it’s in the spotlight, and two people are inside having sex. They’re standing, her leg hitched over his hip as he pushes into her slowly, rhythmically. “The exhibitionist box.” Julian says in my ear.

I can see that, and they’re perfectly comfortable there, even though they’re stark naked in the middle of a club. I realize that there hasn’t been a hint of embarrassment or shame in any of the sex I’ve looked at. Maybe that’s why this place feels so natural. So comfortable. Dancing, clothed, is one thing, but I’m not sure that I’m brave enough to be wholly comfortable like that, out in the open where anyone can see you.

“Can I ask why you own a place like this? Why not just a normal night club?”

Julian chuckles, tugging me along to the next stage. “Because there are so many normal night clubs, and my partners and I wanted a place where everyone would feel safe to be themselves. Or someone else. Or whatever they wanted to be. We wanted to have a place where we could be who we wanted without judgement. So we started Club Deep. Luckily for us, a lot of people seemed to want a place like that too.”

We’re standing now in front of a stage where a woman sits on a chair that looks like a throne, a man sitting at her feet. He’s caressing her legs, occasionally leaning down to lick her toes, his face so rapturous that it feels wrong to be looking at him. “I think you’ll be interested in what’s upstairs even more.”

“Oh?”

One of the three staircases to the second level is near us, and we climb. As soon as we set foot onto the floor, my jaw drops. Windows open into huge rooms all decorated with different themes. The one immediately in front of us is a cold stone dungeon, and more than one person is bound in chains, and I hear the sound of a whip. This is a literal sex dungeon. Oh. My. God.

Julian pulls me along the balcony, and I see a patient having sex with a doctor, and a secretary sucking the cock of her boss. A room with a huge and gorgeous bed is a tangle of limbs and bodies, just the sounds coming from the room making my heart pound. It’s like watching porn in real life, and I’m turned on. My skin is more sensitive than normal, feeling every callous on Julian’s hand. The wetness between my legs has been growing, and now I can’t even take a step without feeling it, knowing how crazy and amazing this is. I mean, I’m not sure it’s something I would ever do, but it’s still amazing.

He stops in front of the orgy, pulling me to the empty window frame where we can watch. Julian is standing behind me, gently pressing me into the wall as I lean on the sill, and I can feel his massive erection against my ass. “What do you think?” he asks, his lips suddenly at my neck.

His fingers are on the bare skin of my waist, and I can’t find words. I watch as a woman straddles a man and he begins to fuck her. Another man steps up, plunging deep into her ass, and another sliding his cock between her lips. There’s so much more, chains of people sucking and licking and fucking and my heart is racing. “It’s so much,” I manage to say as Julian’s hand slides down my stomach.

“Let me buy you that drink,” he whispers in my ear. “And then I’d love it if you’d dance with me.”

There’s no sign of Cosette yet, and I don’t think she’ll mind if I found someone to dance with. She’s always encouraging me to go out and get laid. I blush a little at the fact that that’s an actual possibility right now. Julian doesn’t let go of me, keeping his arm wrapped around my waist as he guides me to the stairs. It’s almost like he can read my mind. Like he knows that my answer would be nothing other than ‘yes.’