“They fuck here, at the party?” I ask, shocked.
“Are you surprised? I thought you realized that there’s a lot of sex going on around us, even if we can’t exactly see it.”
I chew my lip for a moment. “Yeah, I mean I figured that out, but having to sleep with a stranger at a party surrounded by everyone else? It seems so…demeaning.”
Alex shrugs. “That’s sort of the point. With their bodies, they pay the dues to join the fraternity. Here they don’t want your money, or your status, they want your body and whatever comes with it.” He looks me up and down pointedly, and I resist the urge to try to hide my flushed face.
“I’m really glad it isn’t me,” I breathe.
Alex snorts. “If we weren’t just pretending here tonight, you’d be paying your dues to me. No ceremony or initiation bullshit. Just you serving me…” His voice is sultry and my lips part. His words give me vivid imagery and my heart starts racing at the need to fulfill them.
I perk up at the lust in his tone. “I’d be okay with that.”
“Of course you would.” Alex rolls his eyes, crossing his arms.
I make a sexier pose, putting myself on display. Alex tries not to look, but he can’t help it and I smirk, leaning into him. “Maybe we can go somewhere quieter now that the ritual is over.”
“Not a chance,” Alex snaps back. “We're taking a quick look around and then going home.”
“Why? It’s not every day we are here in this type of…” I glance around, trying to find a proper name to describe this place, “masked orgy party.”
“I said no,” he hisses.
“But—”
“There is no but…even if I would love to.”
“We are in Venice,” I keep insisting, my tone sweet and low, “in a palazzo filled with people fucking around us.” I pause, observing attentively his flexed jaw. “Isn’t there a place we can go and do the same?”
Alex chuckles, unimpressed. Then his gaze leaves the empty dance floor and goes to meet mine. “You wanna fuck, huh?”
His question is intimidating to say the least. Why does he have to be so blunt like that? Is it to make me feel self-conscious and ashamed about my desire? But before I can avert my gaze and look elsewhere, he grabs my neck, forcing me to face him.
“Look me in the eye and tell me what you want.” His hands are cupping my jawline, and his thumbs start stroking my cheeks. His touch makes me shiver, leaving me even more desperate.
“You know what I want,” I tell him, my tone slightly annoyed at his need to make me feel embarrassed.
“No, I don’t,” he ripostes just as fast. “I want to hear it from you. Or else you’re gonna run dry tonight.”
I can’t prevent my mouth from gaping at his horrendous threat. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Alex gives nothing away, except a smirk. “You wanna bet?”
“Fine,” I hiss, disarmed by his piercing blue eyes. “I wanna be with you.”
“To do what?” he insists, keeping his eyes locked on mine. Holy moly, him being dressed in a tux, half his face covered with this mask, and me here dressed in a three-piece lingerie makes me really feel like his courtesan.
“To fuck,” I finally pull the word out of my mouth. “I wanna go somewhere to be with you and fuck.”
There’s something in his eyes that switches after saying the word fuck. “Was it that hard?”
“A bit.”
“It’s gonna be on my terms, you understand?”
Oh gosh! My heart starts racing in excitement. “Yes,” I breathe, already wondering what he is up to.
Alex grips my hand firmly and walks me across the palazzo until we take the majestic stairs to go to the second floor. There we cross the corridor, the lights just as red and the vibe just as sensual and Alex takes a golden key—that looks exactly like the one from the invitation—from his inner pocket and opens a wooden-door. I wonder where he got the key, but at this point I’m just too excited to go into a private room with him.
Where the seductive red lighting of the rest of the palazzo is cut through with the warm yellow candlelight, our private room is just red. Red lighting, red everything. It seems otherworldly, and it sets me on edge for some reason as we walk in. Maybe because it feels like somewhere the devil would take his concubine to steal her soul. I look at Alex, fully dressed and half his beautiful face hidden from me. If anyone is an irresistible devil, it’s him.
The floor, which I can only assume is red from the lights, shines to the point of being reflective, and the entire room can only be described as “sensual and lush.” Every surface seems suited for sex, with pillows piled everywhere. There is a wall with whips, handcuffs, paddles, and other more traditional sex toys hanging up that grabs my attention until I notice the bed.
I had never wanted to fall into a bed with Alex more than I had with this one. It’s enormous and opulent, with silk sheets and dozens of soft pillows, and directly above it hung a mirror so anyone getting down and dirty in the bed can watch their antics.
I’m still considering the bed when Alex comes up behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders.
“Remember, tonight you are a courtesan, my courtesan, and I’m the client.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means, my dear, that tonight your job is to please me.”
“And what,” I say as I turn to him and rest my hands on his chest, “will please you tonight?”
Alex motions toward the enormous bed. “Take a seat.”
I follow directions, perching on the edge of the bed. Alex walks over to one cabinet that I now notice is a bar, and pulls out a bottle of Macallan, pouring himself two fingers. He takes a sip, sitting down on the loveseat that faces the bed.
“Since I’ve already clarified that I won’t touch you, I’d like to watch you touch yourself.”
I frown. “Alex, that’s not—” I start before he cuts me off.
“I don’t care what you have to say about it. You’re my courtesan, and this is what I want. If you don’t like it, we can go home,” he tells me firmly.
Going home is the last thing I want to do. So fine. If he wants to watch me touch myself, I’m going to make it so hot for him that he can’t keep his hands off me. He will not get me to quit that easily. I cross my legs and lean forward, my boobs pressing together and spilling over the lacy cups of the bra.
“Okay, master,” I purr, playing along. “Tell me what I can do to please you.”
He raises his eyebrows at my acceptance but doesn’t miss a beat. “Start with your tits.”
I lower my eyes, dragging my hands up my torso until I can cup my breasts. The bra snaps in the front, so while fondling myself over the bra, I undo the clasp, letting it fall completely open. I palm my tits, squeezing and plumping them before moving to my nipples.
Alex is watching me like a hawk, occasionally taking drinks of his whiskey while he does so. A big part of me wants to be embarrassed, but I can’t give him that satisfaction. I keep my eyes locked on his as I run small circles around my nipples, making them harden before pinching the tips between my fingers. I moan, throwing my head back. It isn’t Alex, like I want it to be, but my own touch is still enough to turn me on, especially if Alex is watching me.