It was Saturday night at the club under the Library. It was a Members Only night.
Audrey had been a member for a year, and she finally felt like she understood things. As she walked through the crowd, she was starting to see that there were actually two parties going on at once. Maybe even more. On the surface, it was a kinky sex event, marked by strangers and friends flirting and drinking, giggling and groping.
Beneath the surface, however, were those who played the “Secret Game.” Always smiling and watching, these individuals kissed and played as well, but always above all else, they watched. They collected faces and secrets and oversaw the parties as one would oversee a vineyard: pruning, watering, ready to harvest what fruits came to bear at just the right moment.
The thought made Audrey remember the card in her purse and how she could almost feel it burning a hole in the leather. Those who played the Secret Game had seen something in her. They had given her a glimpse of what was behind that secret red door she had heard about, the door that led from the secret bar to a place even more exclusive. They had given her a card that meant she was more than just a member of the club; she was an initiate into something more.
Audrey stopped at the bar and considered a drink, but she decided she needed a clear head and asked for water. The band was playing, the music sounding sweet over the noise of spankings. As they played a swinging jazz rhythm, a burlesque act performed on the second stage.
Out of the corner of her eye, Audrey spotted Delphine, the woman who had given her the card. She was with her tall, mysterious partner, a man whose name Audrey didn’t know. He had a salt and pepper beard and wore a well-cut charcoal gray suit.
Delphine noticed Audrey and beckoned her to join them across the room. The couple whispered to each other, watching Audrey.
“I’ll see your card,” the bearded man said, with a seriousness that frightened Audrey a little. He had a slight accent, perhaps German, and a formality to his speech.
She fumbled with her purse, pretending for a moment she needed to find it, though she knew exactly where it was. She handed it to the man, and he looked it over, while also scrutinizing Audrey.
“That’s fine,” he said simply, handing it back to her.
Delphine moved closer. She was a striking woman, and her makeup was applied expertly. She wore matte-red lips, and the wings of her eyeliner looked like they could cut someone.
“You do understand that when you present that card, you gain certain privileges, but you must also abide by the rules?” she asked in a terse whisper.
Audrey nodded, taking her card back from the man and putting it away.
“I wish to inspect her. Shall we go to our usual spot?” the man asked Delphine.
Delphine nodded, and Audrey was overtaken by the peculiar feeling of two older attractive people talking about her as if she weren’t there. It kickstarted that heady mixture of shame and lust in her veins.
Audrey was in a pretty black babydoll dress with a white Peter Pan collar. She hadn’t expected the secret rules to be in effect so suddenly. She had read the book Delphine had given her, an old tome that read like de Sade or something. If asked, the book said, she was to submit to an inspection by any other cardholder. It was part of the initiation. The thought made her weak in the knees.
The two of them walked to an empty leather couch. Although there were no signs, everyone knew that it was Delphine’s regular spot. Almost like a lunch table in high school, permanently occupied by the “cool” kids. When they got there, the man turned to Audrey and asked, “Do you submit to inspection, per the conventions of the petition?”
Audrey nodded and then, remembering, turned to him and raised her head, showing him her neck. “I submit to inspection,” she whispered.
Audrey had thought it would be Delphine who would do it. The thought excited her; Delphine was so beautiful and glamorous. Her partner may have been handsome in his own way, but Audrey didn’t know him. He was just a well-dressed stranger.
He spun Audrey around and made quick work of the buttons of her dress, not taking it off but awkwardly pulling it down her shoulders and arms until her breasts were exposed. He undid her bra with the same speed and skill. Then Audrey was sort of bound by her dress, with her bra only undone and pushed down a bit, just enough to give him access.
He made a sound then, a groan of approval. It set off a strange reaction in Audrey, but one that wasn’t completely foreign, a combination of repulsion and arousal.
He fondled her; it was quick, objectifying groping. Delphine smiled as she leaned against the couch’s arm and watched. He made some more grunts that sounded like he liked what he felt. His hands were all over her: on her stomach, on her neck. He put his thumb on her chin and opened her mouth. He looked into it and then pushed two fingers in. She had to concentrate on staying still, trying not to choke as his thick fingers pressed her tongue, probing her for who knew what.
When he was done with that, he spun her around once more. He pushed her forward, and she steadied herself on the back of the couch.
He pulled up her dress, pushing it over her ass, and then groped her again, taking handfuls of her butt and sighing in appreciation. He gave one little smack and followed it up by squeezing each of her inner thighs, one at a time.
Audrey saw Delphine over her shoulder. She was watching intently, her eyes a little far away, her mouth curved in a dreamy smile.
When his fingers moved between Audrey’s legs, she squirmed a little. He let out an annoyed sound and pushed her forward to hold her still. He tugged on her panties, then pushed them to the side.
Audrey had a sudden realization: How had she gotten so wet? Being touched was often enough, but the objectification, being handled by a stranger, appraised and inspected like an animal, was a whole new level.
There was silence for a moment, then another approving grunt from the nameless man, and then his fingers were spreading her open.
Audrey whined then, a pathetic little whine. She didn’t know what she wanted: for him to stop, for him to fuck her? He pushed her down a bit, and she felt him shift her over. Audrey realized he was showing her to Delphine, demonstrating how wet she was. Audrey heard the faintest laugh from Delphine’s lips.
His finger pushed into Audrey, and before she could stop herself, she leaned down and pushed back against his fingers, aching for more.
He laughed then and abruptly slipped his finger out of her, stepped back, and whispered to Delphine. The two of them laughed some more as Audrey waited, bent over the couch, pouting.
“Fix yourself up and then go back to the party. We are through with you,” Delphine said with a frown on her red lips and a smile in her eyes.
The man watched Audrey awkwardly dress, casually licking his fingers as he observed.
Audrey put herself back together as much as she could. She was wet and sweaty and dizzy. A waitress brought her a large glass of mercifully cold ice water.
***
The party took on a surreal, dreamlike quality after that. Audrey walked through the small crowds of people dancing and kissing and fucking, and watched it all through a fog of unsatisfied need.
She noticed Delphine and her companion whispering to others who watched in the periphery. She watched the people Delphine whispered to go off and whisper to others, like a little network in the shadows of the club.
As the music stopped dramatically, Audrey turned and saw the burlesque performance end. A woman with two huge bunches of peacock feathers fluttered back as the curtain closed in front of her. There was scattered applause.
The lights around the small stage went dark, and the band started up again. Audrey saw a thin young man who had just whispered with Delphine walk onto the darkened stage and slip behind the curtain. Audrey wasn’t sure why, but she found herself walking to the stage and following him.
Behind the curtain, there was a door that seamlessly blended in with the wall. As Audrey approached it, the thin man exited the door and was startled by her. Their eyes met. “You can’t be back here,” he said.
She instinctively reached for her card, pulling it out and showing it to him. He looked at it for a moment, then looked at her with a bawdy smile.
“Very well, but don’t disturb the dancers,” he said, holding the door open for her.
She walked through and found herself in a hall. On each side were small dressing rooms. The dancer who had just been on was naked in one, toweling off. She smiled at Audrey and blew her a kiss. In another dressing room, a woman was putting on makeup. Audrey continued down the hall to a door at the end with a sign affixed near it: “Authorized Personnel Only.”
She opened the door without hesitation and found herself in a tiny vestibule. In front of her was something she had heard about in whispers: the red door.
She was timid at first, then chided herself. The red door was open to her, and she could actually see what was inside. As she looked around the little alcove, she saw there were actually two doors. One was a pretty lacquered red, and the other was painted in shimmery gold. Both were closed.
She went to the red door and tried the knob. It wasn’t locked. She opened the door and stepped in.
***
The light was somewhat low, amber in color, and Audrey saw a small, long room. Against one wall, she saw three people or at least parts of three people.
Two women and a man lay face down on tables that seemed to be built into the wall. Only their torsos were visible, and the bottom halves of their bodies were fit into little doors built into the wall.
Audrey imagined the other side, how past the gold door, she would see three pairs of legs and three asses. As she pictured that, one of the women moaned loudly. Her eyes were closed. Her breasts were bare, and the woman fondled herself as her body began to move. She shook and bucked as she was thrust upon by someone on the other side of the wall.
The man began to moan as well, squirming and whispering profanity as someone on the other side of the wall pleasured him.
Audrey suddenly jumped as someone touched her arm: Delphine. She took Audrey’s hand and pulled her into the room.
“Ah, good, you found the red door. I was sure this was the door for a girl like you. I find they don’t like to be watched behind the gold door,” Delphine said with her cruel smile. “Come, let’s see.”
She guided Audrey to the second woman, who was just starting to writhe.
Audrey had seen the woman before, a somewhat mousy girl who was usually in a turtleneck and a skirt. Audrey thought she looked like Velma from the Scooby-Doo cartoons. To see her on her back, naked, her large breasts full and pert, whimpering on the table as some unseen person had their way with her was shocking, even for a wild night at Under the Roses.
The girl looked up at the two women, her eyes glazed over with lust. “What a useful girl you are,” Delphine said to her, putting her hand on the girl’s forehead.
She looked up, panting, and nodded.
“What are they doing to you?” Delphine asked sweetly.
The girl thought about it.
“There are fingers in my pussy and — oh! — in my ass, and someone is kissing my thighs. I think maybe two people,” she said, starting to become breathless.
Delphine patted her on the head and stepped back, pulling Audrey with her.
“It’s a shame they can’t use the top half of her,” Delphine said, marveling at the young woman’s breasts. “Alas, all games have their drawbacks, even this secret one.”
Audrey was silent, still watching, mesmerized.
“This is only one of many parts of the secret game, my dear. If you continue to play with us, you will have to decide which levels appeal to you,” Delphine continued, her hand on Audrey’s cheek.
Audrey swallowed. She didn’t know what to say, and she didn’t know if she was ready for the room behind the red door. She wondered what other doors were hidden and what was behind them.
“It’s a lot,” Audrey whispered.
Delphine smiled. “Indeed, a lot to see, a lot to experience, and a lot to decide on. I’m going out to enjoy the party. I suggest you don’t linger in here too long, but feel free to look around. If you want to come back to this room, it will have to be against the wall.”
With that, Delphine left, and Audrey watched the three who were currently “against the wall” continue to writhe and moan.
Audrey took a deep breath. It was a wild thing, a scary thing, yet the idea seemed to take root in her head, the possibility of being used without even seeing the person.
The woman they had spoken to started moaning louder, and she looked up, locking eyes with Audrey.
“Please…” she whispered.
Audrey walked over.
“I…” she started, but then closed her eyes and moaned again. “Could you kiss me? I need it. I just need a kiss to push me over the edge.”
Audrey nodded, leaning down and looking at the girl’s face, her flushed cheeks, wild eyes, and wet lips. She moved down and kissed her, and the girl leaned up and kissed her back. The intensity of the kiss, though brief, was startling. The girl lay back down and in front of Audrey’s eyes, arched her back as an orgasm rocked through her body.
Audrey continued to watch as she backed up; she knew it was time to leave. She found the door and escaped to the vestibule. She stood there and tried to slow her heart down, then waited a few moments before making her way down the hall, out of the stage door, and through the party. She needed fresh air, desperately.
***
She left the party, climbed the familiar stairs up to the surface, and walked through the closed flower shop until she found the door. When she was outside, she took deep gasps of the cold night air. The image of the girl coming in front of her played in her mind again. Her body felt overheated and electrified with need.
She walked north, letting herself calm down and thinking about what would come next. What part of the game did she want to play? What piece did she want to be?