As soon as he got off work, Sean made his way to the hospital again. His last visit with Ashton hadn’t exactly been easy, but it had opened something in him. Seeing his friend like that, calm and small, made it easier to talk. There was no judgement, no fear over what Ashton might say. Maybe this is what normal people get out of therapy.

He walked right past the information desk to the elevator bank. A group of young doctors in short white coats sucked down coffee and talked about the Lakers game.

On Ashton’s floor, he nodded at the nurse on duty. She eyed him up and down without any shift in her expression.

Sean poked his head into Ashton’s room, but there was no nurse. No new patients had been added to the beds that were on either side of Ashton either. Instantly, the steady beeps of the machines soothed him. It was like a metronome he’d never knew he needed.

“Hey, man,” he said as he sat down in the stiff chair. “How’s it going?”

It was a ridiculous question, but who cared? It was still Ashton. Maybe the nurses were right, anyway. Maybe his friend really could hear him.

“You’ll probably be surprised to hear I’m still hanging out with that girl I told you about. Harper. We went to the amusement park at the pier the other night.”

He looked at Ashton, but there wasn’t even a twitch of response. But the chest rose and fell smoothly beneath the crisp white hospital linens.

“I’m still kind of … worried, though. You know? Like, about the whole dominance thing. I don’t know, BDSM,” he said in a lower voice and glanced towards the empty doorway. “I guess that’s what it is. Hell if I know,” he said.

He’d never spoken openly to Ashton before. They’d been college roommates, then party buddies. Even though the brotherly love between them ran deep, they’d kept conversations light. Now, Sean regretted it. Maybe if we hadn’t just been shooting the shit the whole time, the fight that night wouldn’t have happened.

He sighed. “Most women would have run screaming by now,” he admitted. “But she’s different. She’s stuck around. I don’t have a fucking clue why.”

Sean’s phone vibrated with a text. “Hell, Ashton, it’s Promoter Paul. You remember him?” he asked. “Shit, where did we meet him? I don’t even remember. Some club. You wanna know what it says?” he asked.

Sean opened the text. “Sean, long time no see. Full moon party at Miss Mary’s tonight. Want me to put you down? Let me know how many.”

“Jesus,” Sean said when he’d read the text aloud to Ashton. “Miss Mary’s. You went there before, right? First sex club I ever went to in California,” he mused. “I had no idea what to expect when I walked in there.”

His phone vibrated again. Harper’s name filled the screen. “Wyd?” she’d texted.

Sean drew in his breath. Should I ask her? His hesitation was brief. “Just got invited to a party,” he replied. “Interested?”

“Sure!” she replied. “House party?”

“At Miss Mary’s,” he replied. Would she know what that was?

His phone was quiet for a minute, then the ellipses appeared. “I Googled it,” she said.

Silence. His thumb hovered over the keyboard.

“I’m down,” she added.

Well. That was interesting. “Pick you up at nine,” he said.

“Ashton, this is about to get interesting,” he told his friend. “I’ll see you soon, okay, bud?” he said as he got up to leave.

As he walked towards the door, his phone vibrated again. “Is it okay if I don’t do anything with anyone else there?” Harper asked.

He stopped in the door. That was a twist. Sure, he’d expected her to refuse to go at all. But this? Was this her way of asking to be exclusive?

“Of course,” he replied.

On the way to the car, he loosened the reins of his imagination. How hot would she look in wrist spreaders? Unable to use much of her upper body, her arms even paler as the blood rushed to her torso?

He pulled up memories of Miss Mary’s from his last time there, months ago. One of the semi-private backrooms had a circular bed with vinyl black sheets and steel hoops every two feet. How would she look naked, spread eagle and bound? She’d writhe in frustration, desperate for him to make the first move.

Sean sat in the car and ran over the possibilities. He could see her in a hand catch, her breasts forced forward while she sat on his cock, faced away towards a crowd. He’d tease her clit while she let her head drop back and begged for more. Sean thought about the crowd that would gather, how the men would get themselves off and wish they were him. The women who would beg his permission to lick and suck her nipples.

Or there was the possibility of Harper in a Karada, the thick brown rope outlining her breasts. The lightning harness in the back with the rope threaded up her ass. He was hard as hell—and didn’t have a clue what kind of supplies he had at home.

He raced towards Hollywood, uncomfortable with the engorgement between his legs. But he was getting kind of used to it. It seemed he was always hard around her.

Sean took the stairs up to his apartment, two by two. He dug through one of the unpacked boxes. There wasn’t much he could use. Some old camping rope that wasn’t nearly good enough for Harper’s perfect skin. Some old lube that he’d used solely to get himself off to old Peter Acworth films.

“Fuck,” he said as he surveyed the meager find.

Luckily, he lived in Hollywood. There were kink and leather stores on every corner. Sean headed back downstairs while he Googled nearby shops. One was just half a mile away.

He circled the block to avoid passing Mission Hells. The last thing he needed was Josh to see him and try to get him to cover a shift.

As Sean followed the directions, he pulled up Harper’s number again on a whim. “Wear a black dress,” he texted. No questions, no requests. Let’s see if she’ll take the command like a real submissive.

If she doesn’t, he’ll have to shut the attraction down. But what if she does?

He memorized the directions on the GPS and put the phone on airplane mode. No matter what her response, she could wait. He didn’t want to even be tempted to engage in a conversation with her.

At the shop, the young, slender boy who worked the counter smiled at him. “Can I help you find something?” he asked.

“Sisal ropes, knotted ends if you have them. Water-based lube, alligator—actually, no, nipple trainers—and a leather paddle. Actually, show me where your gags are, too.”

“A man who knows what he wants,” the clerk said. “You’re going to make my job easy.”

The boy didn’t seem old enough to be out of high school, but he knew his stuff. “Ropes, knotted, here you go,” he said. “We have a ton of water-based lube, so it depends on what you’re after. Scented and flavored, over here—”

“Right now, no, just regular,” Sean said. “And one in travel-sized.”

“Gotcha, I’d recommend these,” the boy said, and grabbed two bottles. “Nipple play is over here. Trainers, you said? Are they pierced?”

“I … I don’t know, actually. Let’s assume no.”

“Okay, it doesn’t really matter,” the boy said. “Here, UberKinky makes good trainers. These were made to be used on pierced nipples, but if they’re not, it makes no difference. Better safe than sorry in case they are, though. Adjustable, fully stainless and body safe,” he added. “Okay, and paddles. This way.”

He brought him to a wall covered in scores of options. “Damn,” Sean said. “Quite the selection.”

“Yeah,” the boy said with a chuckle. “Our customers like variety! Starter paddle?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, and you said leather. Here, check this out,” the boy said. He picked up a black paddle that looked like it could be used with ping pong. “It doesn’t look like much, I know, but that’s kind of the point. For the recipient,” he added. “The surface area slows for a little less pain when in training. You can then graduate to thinner whips for more sting.”

Sean was a little disappointed, but knew this was something to ease into. There was no telling if Harper had experimented at all, but if this was going to happen he couldn’t just go right to the hard kink.

“What I like about this paddle, and the Gentle Persuasions brand in general, is that it’s double-sided. A lot of their products are,” the boy said. “You have your classic leather on one side, and then there’s this faux fur on the opposite side. See?” he asked. He was all professional, like he was trying to sell the latest Tupperware to Sean.

Sean took the paddle and examined it. It did have nice juxtaposition on either side.

“So, you can start with the furry side, then switch to the leather. Or back and forth,” the boy said with a shrug.

“Sounds good,” Sean said. “I’ll get it.”

“Great, I’ll ring you up. By the way, we have an ATM here if you want it. It’ll come up as American Allegiance Bank on receipts and statements.”

“That’s alright, it doesn’t matter,” Sean said. “Besides, I have cash.”

“Okay, cool.” The boy put the toys in a non-descript black bag. “Enjoy!” he called out as Sean walked back into the bright California sunshine.