Page 36 of Rogue Royal
Entering the play area, he checked in with Mistress Elizabeth and Master Albert, then weaved his way to the themed area he was overseeing that night. This side of the club had individually themed voyeur rooms and open-plan themed areas for anyone who wanted to be there. He stopped at each voyeur room, watching the play inside and ensuring all was fine before moving onto the areas.
The sounds and scents of sexual activity hardly registered with him any longer, but the sounds of barking and miaowing always brought a smile to his face. It wasn’t an area that interested him sexually but seeing the joyful rough and tumble of the pets was something no one could frown at.
He wandered through the area, speaking with a few members who asked questions or greeted him, and edged towards the medical area. This room was different from the open plan of the pet play area. It had two separate rooms, which had identical instruments in each. The windows to the rooms enabled the occupants to change it to see-through for all to view the play, to one-way if the occupants wanted the audience to watch but not see them watching, and blacked out for privacy. At that point of his walk-through, one window was blacked out and occupied; the other was empty and visible.
He made another circuit, ensuring he stopped for conversation with some members—he didn’t believe in being so stiff and proper as to not talk to anyone despite his job description.
As the night continued, his thoughts veered to Mav more often than he’d expected. What would he think of Douglas’s plans?
****
Chapter 13
Henry
“Stay out of it.”
Henry kept to the side of the room, away from the hustle and bustle in the centre. He’d heard every word Charles had said to Douglas, and it made him sick to his stomach. Charles knew Douglas was gay, as did every member of the family, but Charles had a huge dislike for the LGBTQ+ community as did his mother. Henry knew it on a different scale than others’ hatred. Their dislike was a lot worse than what the word hinted at.
He shuddered and rested back against the wall, sipping his water to calm his nerves. Taking a break as soon as Douglas returned had seemed like a good idea, but he wished he hadn’t heard the threat in Charles’s tone.
“Everything okay, sir?”
Henry opened his eyes, which he hadn’t realised he’d closed, and smiled at the server. “Yes, thank you. Just taking a breather.”
“Okay, sir.”
He watched the server return to her duties and refocused on his drink. The condensation cooled his fingers, and the pounding of his heart could almost drown out the music of the room. He swapped hands and pressed his cooled hand to his forehead, ignoring the trembling. He wished there was something they could do about Charles, but with his mother’s backing, they were far stronger than Henry wanted them to be. Nausea swam over him, and he hoped Charles and Aunt Charlotte would leave them all alone.
Shaking his head, he finished his drink and threw his bottle into the recycling, then strode for the doors to the main club. The noise bombarded him as soon as he entered, but he smiled. The energy of the club made things easier to bear, and mostly, the members were amazing. They excluded no one, despite what the few undesirables thought and wished for.
“Master Henry, could you help me with the stocks, please?”
Henry pivoted to see a woman with a full-length catsuit minus the hood, which showed off her long blonde hair trapped in a ponytail. With his thoughts in the past as they were, the idea of locking someone in stocks made goosebumps rise on his arms.
“I’m sorry, little one. I can’t right now, but bear with me a moment.” He grabbed the radio by his side and depressed a button. “All Monitors. Do we have someone to spare for a stocks experience, please?” His heart pounded in a harsh staccato rhythm while he waited for an answer through his earpiece.
“Yes, Master Henry. Send the guest to the stocks, and Mistress Elizabeth will be with them shortly.”
“Thank you, Master Frederick,” Henry said. He smiled at the woman. “Mistress Elizabeth will be at the stocks shortly. Please wait for her there.”
The woman lowered her head. “Thank you, Master Henry.” She whirled around and disappeared into the crowd.
Henry inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth several times while the images of what happened to the man in the stocks all those years ago ran through his mind. He sometimes wondered if he had PTSD and needed therapy to help him, but how would he explain his situation to someone without getting into the details about it. It was next to impossible. He needed to focus on the here and now and forget about the past as much as he could.
He pressed the button again. “Master Frederick, please advise where I am situated tonight. My brain is on hiatus.”
“Master Henry, your brain is probably asleep in your bed. Maybe you should remember to wake it up and bring it with you next time.” Henry chuckled at Frederick’s tone. “You are working in the medical area tonight.”
Of course, he was. He shook his head when he remembered the questions from several viewing members earlier that evening. It was a short distance to the medical area, and when he saw one room with blacked-out windows and the other with several viewers in front of it, he settled in to monitor the goings-on. At least this was one area of BDSM that they hadn’t ruined for him.
That was until he caught Charles’s eyes from across the corridor. Charles wasn’t a monitor, but he was a member of Club Royal, so he could come and go as he pleased. Most of the time, Henry could avoid him, but there was the odd occasion he couldn’t. Like then. Charles didn’t come any closer, but he stared at Henry as if he were something on the end of his shoe. No idea how long they stared at each other; it was only when someone bumped into him that he dislodged his gaze. After apologising, he glanced back, and Charles tapped the side of his nose and pointed at Henry, then disappeared.
Henry crossed his arms over his chest, hiding his trembling hands under his armpits and focused on the scene through the window. Real-life could take a leap as far as he was concerned. He’d received enough reminders that night.
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Chapter 14
