“Fire Palace is organized by rooms to ensure maximum privacy and safety. She’s informed me to give you a key to a VIP suite where she will meet with you in promptly one hour. You are welcome to use the suite…” his eyes dance between the three of our faces, and my eyes widen when I realize what he’s implying, “however you’d like until she can meet with you.”
Drake stifles a laugh. “Isn’t there a bar I could wait at?”
“We don’t serve alcohol, I’m afraid, but there is a lounge upstairs that might quench your thirst.”
Wow, do we sound this uptight at our club?
“Are we not able to look around? Isn’t there a place where people…mingle?” Hunter asks.
“Mingle? We have group activities on Thursday and Saturday nights from—"
“Never mind,” Hunter interjects, grabbing the key from the man. “You have water or something in the rooms for my wife, right?”
He seems tense, so I gently squeeze his arm against my body to try and calm him. It’s too early for him to lose his temper and Hunter has a bit of a short fuse.
“Yes, sir.”
“And please tell Ms. Santos that we do not need an hour. We’re here to see the Shibari demonstration at ten, so I’d appreciate it if she wouldn’t keep us waiting in our…room.”
The man behind the counter looks uncomfortable. “Yes, sir.”
“Let’s go,” he grumbles, pulling me to the door.
“I guess I’ll be upstairs at the bar,” Drake says, moving toward the stairs that lead to the street, and I feel a twinge of disappointment at seeing him leave, alone.
“Come on, Drake. You don’t want to miss the demonstration.”
“Come with you…into your sex room?”
“We’re not— Will you just come on?” Hunter barks. With a laugh, Drake follows us through the doors into the club. So much for being quiet. The moment we enter the long dark hallway, the sounds of sex behind each door mingle with the loud thumping bass of the music. I’m actually quite impressed that we couldn’t hear any of this in the lobby.
The vibe of this club is nothing like Salacious. Instead of entering one large room, we’re left to meander through a labyrinth of hallways with doors on each side, numbered in gold letters. It takes us a few moments to find ours: room thirty-three.
Holding Hunter’s hand, I stand by, letting him unlock the door, and glance back at Drake when I hear a thunderous roar coming from the room across the hall. Drake and I lock eyes and both resist the urge to laugh before rushing into our room.
The moment the door closes behind us, it’s a little more quiet. A little. The music is still loud in here and I can’t tell if the pounding sound is the bass or the headboards.
“This place is weird,” Drake mutters as he looks around our room.
Hunter is still clenching his jaw, which I know means he’s annoyed. He clearly doesn’t like that they ushered us into a room like prisoners, but I know it was just a business tactic. We’re technically their competition. They will show us respect, just after they humble us.
“I don’t like it,” Hunter mutters.
“Oh, it’s not so bad…” I say. The room is nice. It’s a good size, and it smells clean, like jasmine and cotton. There’s a giant bed on the right and a couch along the wall with a minibar and a cabinet against the opposite wall. It’s dark in here, giving the room a sexy vibe. Which I guess makes up for the fact that the room itself is a little…boring.
Walking over to the cabinet, I open doors to find exactly what I expected to: ropes, cuffs, tiny bottles of lube like hotel shampoos, and a bowl of condoms. In the drawers are sealed and unopened sex toys—butt plugs, dildos, anal beads. It makes me laugh that this stuff really doesn’t faze me anymore.
“This is bullshit,” Hunter mutters as he paces the room.
“Baby, relax,” I reply, approaching him and running my hands over his chest. Drake drops onto the sofa behind us. “We have an hour,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood for my husband. “Just because Drake is in here doesn’t mean we can’t still use the room.”
“Be my guest,” Drake says with a laugh.
My husband just rolls his eyes, but his shoulders do relax a little as his hands slide down my back. “This lady better hurry. I’m not sitting here cooped up for an hour.”
It doesn’t end up being an hour before there’s a knock at the door. In a rush, Hunter walks over and opens it. A beautiful woman with large green eyes and sleek black hair smiles politely at us.