Page 39 of Forfeits

Robin put a hand on Aiden’s shoulder, regarding me with a tolerant expression. “Playing hard to get, is he?” Robin said. “Come on, then.”

I stood, wondering if this was a good idea or a huge mistake. But Aiden was right. It might be fun to have a look at this kink room and discuss where we might want to take this fledgling relationship. Being in an actual room with those sorts of items at our disposal would certainly give us something to talk about. I was buzzy and happy from my whiskey sour, and maybe that helped.

Jacob was very professional, if not as entertaining as Robin, and gave us the lowdown on the rules. We signed the electronic consent forms and transferred the reduced fee, then Robin offered to escort us.

“Now, Robin,” Sebastian murmured to the cheeky server, “you’re to come right back. You’re not allowed to go into that room with Mr. Thompson and Mr. Marin.”

Robin frowned. “Fine. But you’re no fun.” Robin lifted his chin. “This way, gentlemen.”

We followed Robin out of the door of the gaming parlor and along the hallway that contained the coat rack. We went past a small kitchen and into the back where a large wood door with the word ‘Bordello’ on it stared at us from a broad wall.

“This is it. I’ll give you the key now, and please bring it back to whomever is at the bar when you’re done. You have the room until ten, which is slightly longer than an hour, so you’ve gotten quite the introductory deal.”

Aiden gave him a salute and gestured to the door.

“Shall we?” he asked as Robin left us.

“I suppose we shall,” I said, wondering what glories awaited us inside this room.

As the large door pushed open, pot lights in the ceiling gave a dim illumination to the space. It was much bigger than I’d expected.

Aiden closed the door behind me, locked it and turned on a lamp. “I think we can turn up the main lights as well. Hold on.”

I waited as Aiden made the room brighter so we could see our way through this kinky wonderland. Looming furniture and period details came into focus as I looked about.

“Okay. Well, there’s a lot of stuff in here,” Aiden commented.

To our left was a cozy area with a rug, a settee and a mirrored vanity. There was a rack of vintage clothing hanging between that space and the rest of the space—sort of a divider. Then an antique school desk and a bigger wood desk were in front of a blackboard. Someone had chalked some math problems on the board, for realism.

But my gaze was drawn to the bed and the St. Andrew’s cross, then to a line of implements hanging on a rack affixed to the wall beside it.

“Jesus Christ.”

Daniel and I had enjoyed a relatively gear-free BDSM relationship. We’d discussed going to a place like this once or twice, but it hadn’t seemed necessary. The power play in our relationship didn’t require accouterments. It was something that had come about naturally as we’d become more intimate. But I’d always wanted to see a place like this.

I felt a flash of guilt because I was here with Aiden and not Daniel. But I couldn’t be here with Daniel, because Daniel was dead. And I’d be damned if I was going to live a celibate or kink-free life to pay some kind of misguided homage to our love. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that he’d died, but he had, and I was still here.

I was still alive, and I was beginning to feel that way at last.

Getting close to Aiden, physically and emotionally, had been a way through that door, and I wasn’t about to turn around. No matter how strange it seemed, and not the life I’d expected, I needed to embrace my circumstances and make the most of them.

“Are you okay?” Aiden asked, coming near to me and gazing at me with kindness.

“Yes. I’m good. More than good. Look at this place.”

“Oh, I’m looking.” He took my hand. “Come on.”

He led me to the space that was farthest away from us, which seemed to be the most intense section of the room, designed for serious bondage and impact play, with kink furniture I’d never seen up close and personal—only online.

Aiden led me to a wooden pillory standing innocently in the center of the space and dropped my hand.

“Wow. Will you look at this!”

He lifted the wood bar on its hinge to make space for someone to put their head and wrists inside. The creak of the hinge echoed as he raised it.

“Well?” he turned to me with a devilish grin. “What are you waiting for?”

I gave him a skeptical look. “Seems extreme for our first time.”

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