Chapter 22: Eyes on Me: Part 2 – Chapter 21

Mia Once we pass through the curtain, we’re in a slightly brighter room. I spot a bar and some tables. More couches…minus people fucking on them.

The sexy woman in black leads me to a high-top table and gestures to the bartender for two waters as I sit down, reeling from the room we just walked out of.

“You’ve heard about me?” I ask, figuring that was a good place to start. Since I have no idea who this woman is or what this place is, or even why the hell Hunter said Garrett would have called me to help out.

“Yeah, well, not from Garrett, naturally,” she says as she takes the seat across from me. “He never tells anyone anything. I get all of my info from Charlie.”

“And who are you?” I feel like an idiot, and my eyes keep dancing around the room, watching for Garrett to show up. We’re still upstairs, and judging by the red rope dividing this bar from the stairs that lead to the main room, I assume we’re still in the VIP area.

“I’m Eden,” she says, putting a hand out for me to shake. Her nails are long and painted a glistening gold. Everything about her is immaculate. “I’m a good friend of the owners, but I guess you could just call me a regular.”

“And Charlie?”

She giggles. “Wow, he really didn’t tell you anything, did he?”

I clench my jaw and press my shoulders back as I shake my head. If he was standing in front of me, I’d punch him right now. Sure, I probably shouldn’t have gone snooping around, but in my defense, I didn’t think I was on the set of a porno.

“Charlie is Emerson’s girl. She said you were mentioned in today’s staff meeting. Which is why Garrett called you. To talk about the event.”

“What event?”

“The Voyeur Night. He wants to bring in camgirls and actors. I think it’s fucking brilliant. I used to do a little cam work back in the day.” She says it with pride as the bartender drops two ice waters in front of us. “Thanks, Geo,” she says sweetly.

“You did?”

“Yeah, not really for me, though. I thought I’d like to be watched, but I think I prefer the physical connection more.”

“Yeah…” I mumble, taking a sip of cold water. I never thought I’d prefer the physical too, but Garrett’s opened my eyes a lot this week.

“So…Garrett obviously didn’t prepare you very well. Did you even know you were in a sex club?”

“A sex club?”

She laughs. “I didn’t think so.”

“Wait.” With my elbows on the table, I lower my face to my hands and let all of this process before I ask another question. Sex club. Voyeur night. Performers? “You think he wants me to ?”

No. No. No. Garrett didn’t actually call me. It’s just a coincidence that I stumbled into the club after this meeting, where I was apparently brought up, but still…this isn’t right.

“Well,” Eden says, placing a hand on my arm. “I think he wants your input. At least that’s what Charlie said they were trying to convince him. Not to actually put you in the show, but according to her, he didn’t want you involved at all. I think he’s a little protective of you.”

“What exactly would the performers do?”

Eden doesn’t answer, but her eyes get a little wider, and I’m no idiot. I’m not naive or new to any of this. I’m a fucking sex worker myself, but I still can’t believe what I’m hearing.

Garrett owns a sex club and he wants to put on a voyeur event? None of this makes any sense.

“Oh my God,” I mutter as I cover my face. “That asshole.”

“Geo, I think we’re gonna need something stronger,” Eden says. Moments later, there’s a clear shot sitting in front of me, and I don’t even ask what it is before I’m tossing it down my throat. It burns its way down and I cough up fire before guzzling my water.

“So, let me get this straight,” she says. “He called you and told you to come up here, but didn’t tell you anything else?”

“He didn’t call me,” I mumble into my hands.

“Oh.” Her mouth stays in an O shape before throwing back her own shot. Then she places the shot glass on the table and looks at me with a confused expression. “So, why are you here?”

“Did you see what I’m wearing?” I ask. “I’ll give you one guess.”

One shot and I’m Little Miss Loose Lips.

The O shape of her mouth is back and a little bigger this time. “I was told you’re his sister…”

“Stepsister,” I reply. I don’t even know this girl, and I’m just letting everything out. What the hell is wrong with me? I walked in here thirty minutes ago, ready to ask my stepbrother to take my virginity, and suddenly, I don’t know what the hell I want. Do I still want that? I feel like he lied to me. What else do I not know about Garrett?

First, it was the incident ten years ago Laura told me about, and now this? Am I kidding myself to believe that anything with him is real? He keeps so much close to his chest, so why on earth would I put my own heart at risk and trust him?

“Well…this is interesting.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumble. “I appreciate you filling me in and saving me from room,” I say, gesturing back to the gang bang behind the curtain. “I should go before I just make things weirder.”

“Oh, come on,” she says casually. “You’re already here. Want a tour?”

I open my mouth to decline, mostly because I still feel like I shouldn’t be here. Then I realize…why shouldn’t I? She’s right, I made it through the door. Until Garrett finds me, I’m free to do whatever I want. And something tells me, this woman might be the best person to get a tour from.

“Can I get another shot first?” I ask.

She smiles. “It’s a two-drink limit, but I get it. We all need liquid courage sometimes.”

After throwing back another round of the smoothest vodka I’ve ever had, I follow Eden around the second-floor balcony.

“These are the VIP rooms,” she says. “They’re mostly just a little nicer than the ones downstairs. A few more ”

“Okay, this may sound like a stupid question, but what’s in the rooms? Are they just like hotel rooms?”

“Some of them are,” she replies. “But the themed ones are my favorite.”

“Themed?”

With a giggle, she leads me toward the elevator at the end of the hall. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

“They’ll let us in?” I ask as the door closes us into the elevator.

“Oh, I’ll do you one better.”

I don’t know what that means, but I have to clutch my dress tightly in my fingers to keep from letting them fidget in front of me.

The elevator opens to the main room again, but I notice what looks like a storefront on the right, so I pause in front of it.

“Oh, that’s the shop. If you need anything like toys or lingerie or whatever, but the rooms all come equipped with condoms and lube. And some toys.”

This is insane. I still can’t wrap my head around this being what Garrett does for a living. Why wouldn’t he tell me? Did he really think I couldn’t handle knowing about his sex club? Sure, I can understand him keeping this secret before, when I was younger, but after the week we’ve had? We’ve done everything but screw, and he just happened to omit the fact that he’s a sex club owner. It doesn’t make sense.

Eden leads me across the main floor, and now there are people dancing in the middle, which does make it appear more like a dance club. I notice things now that I know this isn’t just a strip club, like couples sitting awfully close together around the tables and more ominous doors along the walls.

And it occurs to me that there are people behind those doors. And I know what they’re doing. But nothing about this place feels raunchy or exploitative. It’s not like a strip club, catering to one demographic. I haven’t done anything or seen what’s behind those doors, but I already feel how liberating it is. How women can walk around alone without feeling watched or like prey.

There’s another bar down here, but we don’t stop as we pass it toward another black curtain in the corner. There’s a bouncer standing near a red rope, and he simply nods at Eden as she approaches.

“She’s with me,” she tells him, and he nods his head again.

“Renting a room?”

“Nope, just watching tonight.”

“You got it. Have fun.” He lifts the red rope and pulls the black curtain aside.

Eden takes my hand and smiles as she says, “Ready?”

Ready for what?

It takes me a moment to realize this is the same room I peeked my head in moments ago, before I found the stairs and wandered my dumb ass into the VIP sex room. It’s a museum-looking hallway with people randomly staring at the walls like they are dissecting a piece of art. But as we move into the room, and I see what’s behind the windows, I realize the art is literally…more people fucking.

Still, my mind doesn’t quite register what I’m seeing when I reach the dimly lit window on the right and a woman with a curly brown halo of hair is literally riding a man on a bed.

Blood nearly drains out of my body as I stare at the sight before me. The man is tied to the four corners of the bed, face up, with a blindfold over his eyes and a ball gag in his mouth. In one hand, he is holding something white clutched in his fingers. He can literally not move or speak as this woman rides the ever-loving shit out of him, and I’m not hallucinating; they are literally fucking. It’s not some weird strip club show or BDSM presentation.

I can see where he is entering her, the throbbing red skin of his dick where she’s bouncing herself on him. Her breasts are being held up by a red corset, but with all of her movement, she’s knocked them free of their restraints.

Subtly, I turn my head and stare at the other people watching. There is a man sitting on the bench with another smaller man sitting on his lap. They’re both watching with rapt attention as if this is a movie in a theater. And there are definitely people touching each other, movements I didn’t catch before, but so obvious now as my eyes adjust.

As one woman turns toward me, I quickly glance away, feeling like I’ve just broken some unspoken rule about eye contact in the porn room.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Eden whispers, leaning in from behind me. Goosebumps erupt along my neck from the feel of her breath against my skin.

“Garrett did this?” I ask.

“Yep. This is his creation. It’s everyone’s favorite.”

I glance down the hall, and she takes my hand again, leading us down to the darker windows. There’s no one renting these rooms, but I can see through the darkness that there are different set-ups: an office, a throne room, and a BDSM room with whips and floggers lining the wall.

“I can’t believe he did this.”

“Turns out everyone has a little voyeur in them…” she whispers as we pause in front of a room two women just entered.

And he calls me an exhibitionist. Just watching the women get started in the room, my body tingles with excitement. Not with the idea of watching them, but with the idea of being on the other side of that glass. Knowing that others are watching. Completely exposed.

“You’re thinking about being in there, aren’t you?” she whispers next to me.

Turning toward her, I nod. “Well, find that man of yours and get him to take you. I would if I could.” With a wink, she smiles at me and runs her hand up my arm. If she only knew I haven’t even had sex with a man, let alone a woman. If it wasn’t for Garrett, I might have let her.

Would he even go into that room with me?

I don’t have to wait long for that answer. Glancing toward the staff entrance on the other end of the hall, I’m staring into his angry blue eyes.