It felt like people were staring at me as I followed closely behind Gideon through the sections, past the man guarding the stairs, and up to the second level. Of course, people probably weren't looking, but it still felt like it. My skin buzzed with imagined attention, but try as I might, I couldn't shake it off.
I'd been up here on the second floor before, but instead of going to the right, we continued straight ahead, to the door at the end of the hall.
Nervously, I dried my clammy hands on my dress and focused on breathing evenly. It was a feat that I actually managed to do so when I felt like hyperventilating.
No one could say I shied away from putting myself out there and pushing myself out of my comfort zone—not at this moment, at least.
It felt great, though, even with these anxious nerves, to do something I'd always wanted but was too afraid to do. Until now.
Gideon didn't knock on the door. Instead, he walked in as if he owned the place. Made sense, since his best friend did, in fact, own the place. Gideon had probably made himself at home here.
The room we walked into was set in an intimate setting; the room was dark and a little shadowy, but with enough light to see everything in detail. In the center of the room was a long dinner table in the same dark oak the club was known for, at least known to me. Aside from the table and chairs, the room was completely bare of furniture. The walls were filled with photos of the same theme as the erotic and sophisticated pictures in the hall.
I hadn't known they had a room like this here, but I could understand why Callan had one in case he wanted to have dinner meetings at the club—like now.
Callan looked up from his papers as soon as we entered. His eyes locking automatically with mine, and the raw hunger I saw in them would make any woman drop their panties.
"Bella, keep looking at me like that, and I'll cancel dinner and have you instead." He smirked as if he knew the reaction he had to my body, especially after saying something like that. I suddenly needed a drink to tame the fire burning within me.
Breaking his eye contact, I looked to my right. I saw Mateo standing by one of the pictures, admiring it, before turning his attention towards me. I sucked in a breath at the sight of him. His hair was rugged and sexy, and I'd never seen a man pull off the shoulder-length like he did.
His clear blue eyes dropped, scanning every exposed skin I had, and he smiled. "You look awfully sexy tonight. If I didn't know any better, I would say you were trying to seduce us."
Smiling back, I couldn't help but play along. "Who's to say I'm not?" I quirked a brow.
"Because, Gorgeous, you already did that the first time we laid eyes on you."
Yeah, I... I had no comeback for that one.
"Please, have a seat," Callan offered as he straightened the papers in front of him. He was looking like his usual hot self—they all were. I couldn't believe that just from daring myself to go to the open house that one night would lead to this. It was crazy to think about.
It wasn't until he told me to sit that I noticed the seating arrangements, and my mind flashed to the scene with Ana and Mr. Grey when they sat down to discuss her list—but with three men instead of one.
Callan, of course, was sitting at the head of the table, a thin stack of paper in front of him. Mateo went and took a seat further down in the middle.
Seeing the two other places where paper and pens laid, I would either sit at the end of the table—opposite Callan—or in the middle—opposite Mateo.
Gideon showed me the answer when he sat down in the middle.
As I took my place, I looked down at the papers in front of me. I'd gotten pretty familiar with the list and wasn't weirded out as I read through them; names of different kinds of pleasure, pain, bondage, and everything in between filled the pages.
Next to the papers laid a manila envelope. Hmm, I wonder what's in it. I didn't ask. I would probably get an answer to it soon enough.
Looking up, I noticed Callan's eyes were on Gideon's hands—or more precisely, his knuckles. He didn't react to seeing the bruises, or the dried blood, as if he wasn't surprised about it. What did that even mean?
"We'll have dinner first, and then we can start going over this list. Does that work for you?" Callan asked. "The chef is making us baked chicken breast with vegetables."
"It sounds delicious, and no, I don't mind eating first." I smiled.
"Great. So, did Mateo take good care of you after you left the restaurant on Thursday?"
I squirmed in the chair, glancing briefly at Mateo. He leaned against the backrest of the chair, looking both relaxed and amused at Callan's question.
"Yes, he did. Very much so." He took such good care of me; I grew wet just thinking about what he'd done to me.
"That's good. Can't say I'm not envious that I hadn't been the one to take you home. I'm sure I could've taken much better care of you," he winked, and fuck if that didn't do something to me. This was going to be a long evening if I had to spend it wet and needy.
"Shut up, man," Mateo laughed, not taking the bait. Not that he needed to anyway, he'd been good enough to make me come faster than anyone's ever done—which only included me, but still.
Before anyone could say something else, a woman came in, rolling one of those fancy carts with what I could only imagine were our food. A heavenly smell filled the air.
The server placed a plate in front of each of us, and my mouth watered at the sight. The chicken and vegetables both looked and smelled amazing.
We kept the conversations light as we eat, talking about what we'd done this summer and how I found my way to Desire's Den. I explained how I was reading on a kink site one night about their open house and decided to come visit. I was now thankful that I did. It all had worked out well for me, hadn't it?
As the plates were taken away, I thought about what I wanted to say, or more importantly, ask them.
"I need to know something," I started. "Before we begin going over the list."
"What is it?" Mateo smiled gently at me.
"We all agreed that while we had this arrangement between us, we would still try to find me a dom and you guys a slave..." I trailed off, looking at each of the men.
"That's correct," Callan affirmed.
"However, we never discussed exclusivity. Will you..." Fuck, this was even harder to ask than I thought it would be. "Will you sleep with other women while you're with me?"