Page 14 of Her Secret Santa

“He does! He's got a horrible attitude, he barely listens to the kids, and he gives all of the elves sass too. I thought maybe the first day was a fluke, but he was just as awful today.” Just thinking aboutSanta’sshitty attitude makes me want to scream. “I mean, he’s playing Santa, for fuck's sake. Shouldn't Santalovekids? I feel like that's part of the job!”

Usually, Allie is more than happy to listen to me bitch about work. She often evenencouragesit, wanting me to prioritize my own needs. Tonight, though, her smug grin doesn’t waver once, and as soon as I finish my rant, she leans in close.

“Sounds to me like you need to relax a little,” she says, a little conspiratorially. “And I just so happen to have somethingto help with that. It’s a chance to cross a little something off our Christmas lists too.”

My brows furrow in confusion as she turns to rifle through her bag. She said something about a surprise when we talked yesterday, but I can’t imagine what it could be.

She turns back to face me with an incorrigible grin, two tickets in her hand.

What could she have possibly gotten us tickets to that are making her this excited?

“You know that friend I have who does all that hacking stuff—Frankie, the one with that client that he always swears up and down is in the mob or something?” I nod slowly, worry creeping into my veins at the thought of her getting something from him. She already knows he does some shady stuff, and I don’t like the thought of her owing him or his weird client favors. As far as we know, his client really could be some big scary gangster. “Well, he owed me, so I asked him if he could work some hacking magic and get us in.”

She snaps the tickets down onto the counter and slides them my way. My concern about hacking and shady clients is blown clean away when I read the text printed on the tickets.

One night at Eternity. Shine like a Jewel for the chance to become a Diamond.

“Eternity?” I ask, my voice coming out in a shocked squeak.

I didn’t even think kink clubs like this place were real, and the only reason I know anything about Eternity is because of Allie. She’s got more connections than I do and she’s told me all about the sordid rumors that swirl around the place.

“Eternity,” she confirms, excitement sparkling in her eyes. “Tonight.”

“Tonight?” I gasp, panicking immediately. “I—what do I even wear? This is insane, Allie!”

She throws her head back on a laugh, chocolate curls bouncing perfectly. I have no doubt that she’ll look right at home there, she’s gorgeous and confident and outgoing. Me, though? I’m half scared out of my skin and we haven’t even gotten there yet.

My thoughts are in a whirlwind as Allie grabs her bags from the counter and drags me toward my bedroom, grinning all the way.

I’m definitely not upset about this—everything Allie’s told me about Eternity sounds like something out of a movie. Elite Dominants rolling in money who know exactly how to please a submissive, exclusive invitations, glittering lights. After losing my virginity when I was eighteen—four years ago now—in a remarkably lackluster fashion to an idiot who had no idea what to do with any of my desires, this sounds beyond perfect.

“You just sit tight,” Allie says, situating me on the toilet before she starts to pull accessories from one of the bags. “I’ve got everything handled, and I’m going to doll you up. You’ve got nothing to worry about, babes.”

I sit in shock as Allie rifles through her makeup kit and starts pulling out products that will suit me. Is this actually happening? Am I actually going to an invite onlysex clubto get my fantasies fulfilled? I don’t have a lot of experience, but I read… a lot. That’s actually one of the first things Allie and I bonded over. Graphic design, books, and kink. We were reading one of the same books when we were in that design class together, and she struck up a conversation about it. She’s the only person in my life who knows about anything I’m into, which soothes my nerves a little. She wouldn’t take me anywhere she thought would be bad.

“How does this even work?” I ask as Allie plugs in a curling iron to start on my hair. “Are we supposed to do anything special?”

“All we have to do is sign some paperwork and look pretty,” she assures me, twisting a section of my hair around the curling iron. “Our tickets get us access to the club as Jewels, so we can go dance and mingle and try to catch someone’s eye. They have little bracelets that are color coded to our kinks so the Elites don’t waste their time on someone they’re not compatible with. If you catch an Elite’s eye, they can make you their Diamond for the night. If they want you to come back, they contact the club owner and send you a Diamond bracelet that acts as your key to get in.”

This really does sound like something out of a book. I laugh incredulously, shaking my head slightly as Allie keeps sectioning my hair out for curls.

How is this my life?

“So our invites are one time use?” I ask, disappointed.

It would have been nice to have the chance to go back regularly. What happens if we don’t get picked tonight? Even if we do, there’s no guarantee we’ll be invited back a second time.

“Yeah,” she sighs wistfully. “We have to sign a bunch of NDAs and give them a recent bill of health and fill out paperwork, but we only have to do it once, so if we get to go back, we can just go and have a good time.”

It really sounds too good to be true.

“And you’re sure this isn’t, like, a human trafficking ring or something?” I ask, half teasing and half nervous.

Allie laughs brightly, blue eyes crinkling as she shakes her head.

“Cross my heart,” she swears. “No trafficking.”

Excitement thrums in my veins, and I do my best not to bounce as Allie finishes up my hair and moves on to makeup.She ghosts a pale pink glitter over my eyelids before reaching for my mascara.

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