shoulder, then beckoned to me.
‘Mark,’ she said to him, ‘this is Summer. It’s her first time here.’
Mark looked me up and down, though in an appreciative rather than predatory way.
‘Nice corset!’ he said, kissing me on both cheeks, European style. He was on the short side, a little fat and balding, but he had a friendly face and an attractive gleam in his eyes. He wore heavy flat boots and a rubber apron and vest. The apron had several pockets, which held a number of different implements, each, at first glance, similar to the flogger that was in use on the cross.
‘Thank you,’ I replied. ‘Do you come here often?’
‘Not nearly as often as I’d like,’ he replied, laughing as I blushed.
‘Mark is the dungeon master,’ Charlotte inserted.
‘Basically,’ he said, ‘I make sure everything is OK down here and no one’s being a dickhead.’
I nodded and shifted from one foot to the other. Despite being taller than me, Charlotte was a shoe size smaller and my feet were really beginning to hurt.
I looked around for an empty chair, but didn’t see anything, aside from a metal frame with a padded flat section at roughly waist height that I suspected wasn’t a seat.
‘Am I allowed to sit on that?’ I asked, motioning towards the frame.
‘Not really,’ said Charlotte. ‘You’re not supposed to sit on the equipment. Someone might want to use it.’ Then her face lit up. ‘Oooh!’ she said, giving me a wicked grin and nudging Mark in the ribs. ‘You could give her a spanking, Mark. Then she could rest her feet.’
Mark looked at me. ‘I’d be delighted,’ he said, ‘if the lady would like that.’
‘Oh, no . . . Thanks, but I’m not sure.’
Mark politely replied, ‘No problem,’ in the same breath that Charlotte insisted, ‘Go on – what are you afraid of? He’s an expert. Just try it.’
I glanced over again at the woman on the cross, who now appeared to be in a state of ecstasy, unconcerned what sort of spectacle she provided to onlookers.
I wished I was like that, I thought, so brave and uncaring. If I had given less of a damn about the opinions of others, I’d probably never have ended up spending more than one night with Darren.
‘I’ll be right here with you,’ added Charlotte, no doubt watching my resolve falter. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’
What the hell. Nobody here would think any less of me and I’d get to lie down for a bit, and besides that, I was curious. If it was all bad, this many people wouldn’t be doing it.
‘OK,’ I said, mustering a smile. ‘I’ll try it.’
Charlotte wriggled with delight.
‘Which instrument would you prefer?’ Mark asked, waving his hand in front of the tools held in his apron.
I followed his hand as it waved. Though he wasn’t a tall man, he had big, sturdy hands. They looked tough, the kind of hands that were engaged in some sort of physical work throughout the day, not hovering over a computer, typing and getting flabby.
Charlotte watched the line of my gaze with interest. ‘I think she’s the bare-handed sort, you know,’ she said.
I nodded.
Charlotte took my hand again and led me over to the bench.
Mark gently turned me away from Charlotte to face him. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘I’m going to start very, very gentle. If you’re uncomfortable at any time, just put your hand up into the air and I’ll stop straight away. Charlotte is going to stay right there next to you. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘OK, good,’ he replied. ‘This really isn’t going to work through frilly knickers. Would you mind if I took those off?’
I held my breath. Christ. What had I got myself into? But I knew this was coming; it wouldn’t be the same, clearly, through thick frilly underwear, and the room was full of nudity, so I would hardly stand out.
‘Sure.’
I turned to face the bench and leaned forward against the padded frame, lifting my weight off my shoes and giving my feet blessed
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