Unkinked, page 3
Chapter Two
Maddy
Oh God, this guy is Derreck? Maddy wanted to duck his head into his sweater to hide in shame like a frightened turtle, but it was too hot. It was so hot that he was surprised he was still alive. He wasn’t sure if he had stopped sweating or if his clothes had just turned into soup at some point. Am I the chicken or the noodle?
Derreck’s hands were cool against his own, sucking the warmth from his skin like a cure in a Final Fantasy game. His eyelids threatened to slide closed at the sheer bliss, but he couldn’t stop staring.
Maddy was pale—like he’d never seen the sun because he lived like a vampire pale. Derreck’s caramel skin looked like a cup of coffee with the perfect amount of cream next to his. It was almost exotic—which was probably a strange word to describe a man.
Did Derreck think he was insane? Maddy was almost certain that he should have checked himself into a hospital, but they probably wouldn’t let him go…ever. He had one foot in the door there anyway, not that it helped.
He hadn’t really known what his plan was, but he had been so desperate that it hadn’t mattered. The heat and the blinding sun hadn’t mattered. Three hours later and halfway to a steaming pork chop, when he’d been seconds from giving up, Derreck had found him…like magic.
Everything he knew about Derreck had sounded too good to be true, but he’d had no choice except to take the chance. It had been an impossible task to find someone on their first name alone, but Derreck was next to him, clutching his hand with a palm that felt like it was made of callus and blisters.
“Come with me,” said Derreck, tugging his hand softly. “I’d like to take you inside so we can cool down. It’s not healthy to be sitting in a car when it’s so hot outside.”
Maddy knew that, but he’d still done it. He’d gone through three water bottles and a bottle of Gatorade, but he still didn’t have to pee. Every ounce of fluid was soaked into his hair and his clothes, the sweat doing nothing to cool him in the super-heated interior of his car. His university degrees had done little to prepare him for the reality of heatstroke.
Derreck steadied Maddy as he pulled himself out of the car, the world tilting as slightly cooler air touched the back of his neck and his exposed wrist. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, and he longed for another drink of water, or apple juice, or really anything—except cranberry juice because hell no.
“I can go inside? In the club?” asked Maddy, steadying himself against Derreck’s arm. What he grasped with his fingers could not have been a part of an actual person. He blinked, staring down at Derreck’s bicep. Maddy could bench press a fifteen-gram pencil, but this guy?
Maybe Jennifer hadn’t exaggerated. Maybe Derreck was everything she had said. Heatstroke was one-hundred-percent worth it if that were the case.
“Yes…as my guest.”
His imagination burst to life as a thousand fantasies clambered for attention. There could be anything behind the door from a dungeon to a torture chamber. As long as it looked nothing like Grey’s room in Fifty Shades, then he would be happy. Hell, he just hoped to get into the air conditioning. He was about three seconds away from frying his brain.
He could have sat in his car with the engine running and the air conditioning blasting, but he happened to enjoy living on a planet where he could still breathe. Burning that much fuel for his own comfort had not been an option.
Derreck tapped his key card against the tiny black box that Maddy had inspected earlier in the day. Maddy had knocked quietly hours ago, but no one had answered. He had thought about slipping in with another couple as they entered, but he had caught sight of the scary-looking bouncer just inside the door. Getting his ass kicked like that was not his poison.
Maddy took a deep breath of cool air as the door swung wide. Months of anticipation peaked with the smell of alcohol and different perfumes. He was finally there—inside the building that he had dreamed about for years but had unknowingly craved for as long as he could remember.
The first time he had heard about kink, he had known. He had yearned for it worse than chocolate, coffee and cake combined. But it had taken even longer to discover the club that he had no way of getting into—longer still to find the name of the person who had a chance of helping him. I won’t forget it next time.
Maddy eyed up the red curtains that looked like they had been stolen from the stage of an old gentlemen’s club where the ladies danced in nylons and tutus. The bouncer looked even more terrifying up close, with more bulk than anything but still a fair amount of muscle.
“Can we get Maddy checked in as my guest?” Derreck’s voice rumbled next to him, and Maddy realized that he was still clutching Derreck. His palm had slicked with sweat, soaking into Derreck’s, but he hadn’t pulled away.
Paperwork and waivers were something that Maddy had expected, and he filled them out, signing his name with a staggering flourish. He licked his dry lips, shivering as a sudden chill descended. Could he ask for a glass of water? Or was that somehow against the rules?
He’d read about different kinds of relationships in his extensive online research, steering clear of almost all the chat rooms for fear of being somehow turned away. There were some where a sub wasn’t even allowed to eat or use the bathroom without their Dom’s permission. Maddy could imagine that scenario, and he could also imagine himself telling his Dom to pound salt, as he pissed when he wanted to.
Maddy handed the papers back, looking to Derreck, who was waiting next to the curtain, completely still as he stared unwaveringly. Derreck reached for the curtain, pulling it aside and ushering him through.
A bar…was not what he had been expecting or what he needed. Jennifer had told him about a stage that had been set up during an open house she’d attended, where a Dom and sub had given a demonstration that Maddy had dreamed about. But there was nothing like that in the dimly lit club. There was only a bar and a few booths, with quiet music trickling along the edge of his hearing.
It was busy, and a few people glanced their way as Derreck stepped toward the bar. Maddy tugged his sleeve down over his wrist, shrinking back a step until he was just behind Derreck. Their gazes burned into him, seeing straight through his sweaty clothing. Don’t look at me.
“Not what you expected?” asked Derreck, watching every move with dark eyes. Where are the orgies? Where’s the torture stuff?
Maddy dropped his gaze to the scraped wooden floor, hoping that Derreck couldn’t read his mind or see his disappointment. The floor was an old-style hardwood, which was strange for a bar because of how hard it must’ve been to keep clean. There were a few stains that looked to be permanent, but it was tidier than he would have expected.
But what had he been expecting? In his dreams he’d seen a Dom snorting cocaine off their bound sub’s belly as another person fucked their throat. Maybe the drugs had been stretching it a bit, but what about the fucking? The threat of getting fucked was the reason that Maddy had taken so long to start looking for a kink club in the first place.
But seriously? Maybe it didn’t make sense that he had expected cum to cover every surface. But where were the naked subs sitting at their Dom’s feet drinking from a dog bowl filled with champagne? Okay…maybe his imagination had been a bit over the top.
“Just different. I didn’t think it would be a bar,” said Maddy, sliding onto a stool as Derreck leaned against the counter. The stool was softer than it looked, but the drunk man on his other side instantly had him on edge, even though he hadn’t even looked Maddy’s way.
“Don’t get comfortable,” said Derreck, before he turned to the barkeep. “Clint, give me two Sprites and set me up in a room. You know which one.”
Clint eyed Maddy as he filled two glasses with ice. “This is last call for the next hour. Harold will be watching the bar, but he won’t be serving.” He typed something into a touchscreen computer before he slid the drinks toward Derreck. “Have fun. I know I will.”
Maddy turned away, unable to bear the grin Clint sent his way. He was about two seconds away from sliding off his stool and bolting for the door. He wasn’t here to have fun or have sex. Those were the last things he needed—that he craved.
Derreck grabbed the frosted glasses, turning away from the bar before walking toward the back end of the booths. He looked over his shoulder when Maddy didn’t follow him.
“We can sit at a booth if you’re more comfortable, but I thought you would prefer a private room to chat,” said Derreck, his eyes almost black in the low light.
I didn’t sit for three hours in a hot car to leave now. Maddy scrambled off his stool, trying to ignore the gazes that glared at him from all sides. How many people were watching him make a fool of himself?
Turning his head, he spotted a gray-haired man kneeling at the foot of a blond in one of the booths. He was fully clothed with his eyes shut in either sleep or bliss, his head resting in his Dom’s lap.
Maddy’s heart picked up, his stomach bubbling for the first time since coming through the door.
That was not what he was here for either, but neither was a chat. But he supposed he wouldn’t be able to get past the chat. Derreck would have questions for him and probably assumed that Maddy had some as well. I know exactly what I want.
Maddy had been reading about kink since before it was legal for him to go into a bar. He knew about negotiation, limits and safewords and he would suffer through them if it got him what he wanted.
Derreck turned toward a hallway that had been hidden behind the last booth. To one side there was a closed curtain and a seating area off to his right, but beyond that was a corridor of doors, names etched into each one with cursive gold.
There looked to be about nine doors, but Derreck headed straight for one called Impact, tapping the same key card that he had used to unlock the front door.
Maddy’s jaw nearly hit the floor as he stepped through the threshold, the door sliding shut behind him with a quiet whoosh. The room had the best lighting of any dungeon that had ever existed on television or in his imagination. His chest relaxed, and he took a deep breath.
This was what he had been expecting and craving.
The far wall was covered with an array of floggers, whips, canes and paddles that made his mouth water and goosebumps break out over his skin. There was a restraint bench in the middle of the room, as well as a standing cross on the far side. An ominous pair of manacles hung from the ceiling at a height that would put him on his tip toes.
Maddy took a step toward the wall of floggers, clenching his fist at his side to keep from reaching out. He had never touched one—only dreamed about them over and over. Saliva burst in his mouth, and he swallowed. The thick scent of leather with a touch of plastic was so strong that he swore he could taste it.
Derreck turned away from the wall, heading for a black couch set away from the implements. He pulled up a small side table and patted the seat next to him before he placed one glass of Sprite on the surface. Condensation dripped down the side of the glass, staining the top of the table dark.
“Is it okay to talk in here?” asked Derreck, resting his arm on the back of the couch. Maddy stared at the wall of torture, unable to look away. “You are looking a little shell-shocked. You have no obligation to stay, and you are free to go at any time if this isn’t what you are looking for.”
“It’s better,” said Maddy, slowly lowering himself into the seat next to Derreck. His shirt was clinging to his skin, and with the cool air of the club, he was quickly getting uncomfortable. A shiver trailed up his spine, and he let out a shudder.
“Is this what you had in mind when you asked me to hurt you?” asked Derreck, sliding one of the glasses over to Maddy.
Maddy brought it to his lips immediately, groaning as the carbonated sugar trickled down his throat. He swallowed past the threatening brain freeze, downing the entire glass. Swallowing the last few drops, he took a deep breath and set the empty glass back on the table. He hid the burp behind his palm as it worked its way up his throat.
“Kind of,” said Maddy, squinting at the implements as his head ached from the cold drink. “I’ve thought about a whip before, but I didn’t know there were these many kinds of floggers. I’ve never been to a kink club.”
The Internet had kept that from him, for the most part. He had been convinced that there were only a few kinds of implements that anyone actually used, and the rest were just for show.
Derreck inclined his head, pushing the second glass toward Maddy. “As my guest, I have a responsibility to make sure you follow the rules of the club. If you break them, you will never set foot in the club again—and good luck getting into any others in the city. Word travels fast in this world.”
Wait…! There are more clubs? Where the fuck had they been all his life?
“You already signed off on them, but I need you to understand that in any scene, all parties involved must be consenting. Other than that, almost anything goes,” said Derreck. “I don’t do checklists or anything as tedious as that, but we will talk about limits after you ask me your questions.”
Am I that obvious? “Where are all the naked people? I thought this was a sex club.” The words left him without permission, but boy, did he want to know. There should have been an orgy out front, and where the fuck was the stage his friend had told him about?
“Did you consent to seeing a Dom or sub naked in the midst of play?” asked Derreck, a frown playing on his lips. He was rather intimidating while sitting, and his long limbs were thick and glowing with a hint of fresh sweat.
Maddy shook his head. He hadn’t thought of it like that.
“There is an open play area for those who want to scene in front of others and for those who want to watch, but you won’t see anything like that at the bar because you haven’t consented. Drinking and drugs aren’t permitted if there is going to be play. You can’t consent if you are drunk or high. Do you understand?” Derreck took the empty glasses and set them to the side. His eyes weren’t black as Maddy had originally thought, but almond brown with a few lighter brown flecks.
It was a lot to take in. Maddy had thought consent was only a sex thing, to be honest, and a simple yes or no question. When did things get so complicated?
“I don’t want to screw up,” said Maddy, fighting the urge to pull his damp sweater away from his body. If he screwed up, everything he had hoped for would disappear. I can’t let that happen.
“I’ll help you,” said Derreck. “I’m not a Dom who won’t let you speak or ask questions. You don’t need to call me ‘Master’ or ‘Sir’, because I haven’t done anything to earn those titles from you.” Derreck rapped the table with his knuckles. “You’ll need two safewords. One to stop everything, and one to slow down or ask questions if you need to.”
Maddy let out a breath. He had been slightly worried that he was going to be gagged, bound and beaten, then tossed back out of the door with a smile and wave. Even if that appealed to him more than sex did, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be alone after the scene or not. Perhaps the Internet had been wrong about more than one thing.
“What are your limits?” Maddy asked. Jennifer had known Derreck’s specialties but had known nothing of his limits. Apparently, limits were more important than kinks themselves. Just another layer of keeping things consensual.
“I’ll only have one limit for today,” said Derreck. “No sex. I won’t fuck you, and you won’t fuck me. Oral sex, or anything like a hand job is off the table unless one of us checks in during the scene.”
Can relief give me an orgasm? It was the closest that Maddy had come to one in years. “Thank fuck,” he said, letting his head fall into his hands. Sweat drenched his palms instantly and a shudder passed through his body.
Why had he waited until he was desperate before he had parked his ass outside the kink club? “I don’t want to do any of those things,” said Maddy, shaking his head. “I…I don’t do sex.” Is that how I should put it? He didn’t do sex, and sex didn’t do him. Nope. Not happening.
A small smile tugged at Derreck’s lips, his dark eyes sparkling with mirth. “I think we are going to get along just fine, Maddy. What are your other limits? Or are you not sure.”
“Nothing gross,” said Maddy, eyeing up the empty glasses. His stomach was gurgling from too much too fast, so it was probably best to wait to ask for more, even if his mouth still felt bone-dry. “No poo-play or anything like that. And please don’t spit on me. That will probably just make me puke, and if I puke once, I’m puking twice.”
“Any problem with restraints, blindfolds, knives, choking?” Derreck listed off a few more and Maddy shook his head at each one.
Knives? Fuck yes! This was finally happening, and it was going to fix everything. It has to. If things kept going the way they had been, then Maddy was sure he would end up on the wrong side of barred windows. People didn’t understand him or his addiction, and that terrified them.
“Anything else?” Derreck’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Derreck looked so calm and detached, when Maddy was one step away from terrified. It was perfect. If Derreck had been afraid—afraid of Maddy—then Maddy wasn’t sure what he would have done.
Maddy plucked at his sleeve, tugging it down until it covered his knuckles. “My shirt stays on. I don’t care about my pants, but I’m never taking my shirt off, so don’t ask.”
And here comes the questions. “Why are you wearing a sweater? What are you going to do when it gets cold?” There were so many more out there that managed to piss Maddy off every time.
“Fair enough. Did you need anything else to eat or drink or are you ready to start?” asked Derreck, stacking the glasses before he wiped the table clean.
Wait. What? “Start…like now?” asked Maddy, tugging at his sleeve and gnawing his lip. He had expected to make some kind of appointment. “Show up at nine p.m. tomorrow and I’ll beat your ass. Make sure to bring a snack and an ice pack.”
“Now,” said Derreck, his smile gone. His voice had gone deep, and there was a furrow on his forehead. “Stand against that wall with your back to me and take your pants off. I’ll start you off easy.”
