Broken Lion (22 page)

I walked inside the front doors. Just inside was another set of front doors. The ones behind and the ones ahead both had blackout curtains. I pushed through the second set of doors. The inside was very dim, but I could see it was a lobby of some kind. A young woman stood behind a podium, much like a hostess. Maybe it was a restaurant. The woman wore dark glasses. That was odd. Probably so she wouldn’t know the identity of the guilty patrons, because there was no way this place was legal.

It is a sex club! Damn you, Lion!

“Good evening,” the sex hostess said. “Welcome to Naked Sensations. Do you have a reservation?”

“Uhh…” I was either doing this or I wasn’t. “Yes,” I sighed.

“Name?”

“Smithsonian.” It had been my idea. Lion had suggested Smith, but that was too common.

She ran her fingers over what looked like a regular tablet computer that rested on the podium. Unlike a tablet, it had a row of bumpy dots that clicked along like a scrolling LED sign, except it was little bumps, not lights. That’s when I realized it was literally a Braille computer tablet. Above the scrolling Braille dots it also had two sets of four keys that fit the fingers. She typed into it then ran both index fingers across the Braille dots. “Here it is. Smithsonian. Two for seven-thirty?”

“That’s us. I mean me. He’s running late.”

“Would you like to wait?”

“Actually, can you seat me now?” I was still crossing my fingers this wasn’t a sex club. I uncrossed my fingers when I remembered how ineffective it was.

“Certainly. Right this way.” When she walked around the podium, she kept her hand on it. She didn’t grab a menu but offered me her hand. “I’ll lead the way.”

“Okay.” I took her hand.

“Have you been to Naked Sensations before?”

“No.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll go slow. Follow my lead and you’ll be fine.”

We walked through another set of curtains into complete darkness.

Yup, sex club.

Lion! You ASSHOLE!!!!

The hostess led me around several turns. I had no idea where I was going. It was pitch black in this place. I had to trust that we wouldn’t run into any walls. “Here we are. There’s a curtain.”

I put my hand out in front of me and felt velvet. “Am I going to trip?”

“No. There’s nothing on the floor to trip on.” She led me into the room and placed my hand on a chair back. “Can you manage the chair?”

“Where’s the table?” Being blind wasn’t easy.

“Here.” She placed my hand on it.

“I think I’ve got it.” I sat down and she helped push my chair up. “Thank you. How do we order? I can’t see anything.”

“Your waiter will describe the menu to you.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry. We have a select menu with only a few choices.”

“That’s smart.”

“We think so.” Her voice smiled.

“Um, this may sound odd, but are there any other people in here already?”

She laughed. “No. You have your own private table.”

I could hear the faint and muffled sounds of numerous quiet conversations nearby. “Who am I hearing then?”

“Each table is separated by velvet curtains, but there are no walls. So we ask that our patrons keep their voices to a minimum. We think the quiet intensifies the culinary experience.”

“That makes perfect sense. So, we’ll be sort of alone?”

“As long as you’re quiet, yes.”

“Okay. I can do that. Thanks.”

“Anything else?”

“Nope.”

“We also ask that you turn off your cell phone or set it to vibrate.”

“Oh. Okay.”

I heard the curtain rustle when she left. The first thing I did was point my phone flashlight around the room. I don’t know why, but I was expecting racks of sex toys, like a sex armory, but instead of rifles and swords, it would be dildos and whips in every shape, size, and color you could imagine; giant dildos, dildos on spears, cat o’ nine, ten or even eleven tails, whips with dildos attached to the ends, that kind of thing. Sure enough, it wasn’t. But it was curtained like the waitress had said. Beyond that, there was a table with plates, glasses, and napkins, but no silverware or anything else. No centerpiece or decor on the walls to speak of. But there was a small sign dangling from two gold threads on one side of the room. The writing was so small I had to get up to read it: Please Turn Your Light Off. I noticed a second sign on the opposite side of the curtains. It said the same thing. Oops. Guilty, I sat back down, switched my phone to vibrate, and put it away.

As darkness settled over me, I became aware of every little sound. Although I did hear other people. I couldn’t make out any conversations, which was good. And no sounds of sex. That I knew of. A few minutes later, the curtain rustled.

“Is she here?”
That voice
.

“I believe so,” the hostess said.

“I’m here,” I muttered.

Lion sat down and the hostess told us our waiter would be with us shortly.

I smelled him instantly. He wore cologne. Something musky and feral. In complete darkness, it was an instant turn on.

“What do you think?” Lion said softly, his voice no less sexy. In fact, it was more sexy when it was the only part of him I could focus on other than his scent.

“Not what I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?”

“A sex club.”

He chuckled quietly, “I don’t know how you got that idea.”

“I’ll explain later. Have you been here before?”

“No. I heard about it from a friend.”

“A female friend?”

“Yes. Are you jealous?”

“It depends how friendly she is.”

“She’s one of my business partners. Rhonda Chavez. She’s married, her husband is a great guy, and her kids are too. You should meet them sometime.”

“Not here. I’d like to be able to see them when I meet them.”

“Vision isn’t everything.”

“How would you know?”

“Because the sound of your voice is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Fuckably sweet.”

Ooze.
“Okay then.” We were whispering, but I was a bit nervous about being overheard. Dr. Hackett and his sister could be in the next curtain over. Oh well. It was a risk I was willing to take. He’d brought his sister here, after all. Who knew what they were doing in the darkness? That’s probably why they came. But not to come. To eat. But not each other.

Apparently, the darkness made me extra dirty.

Lion said, “You know what I love about this?”

“What?”

“I could be naked right now.”

I was right about the darkness making things dirtier. “You’re not naked.”

“Are you sure? Maybe I took a detour to the men’s room and stripped before I came in here.”

I considered shining my phone flashlight on him, but I decided I liked not knowing. “The question is, Mr. Pervert, how do you know I’m not naked?”

He groaned. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”

“Mmm, in the complete dark? No. You’ll have to describe it to me.”

“My dick is about to punch a hole in my slacks.”

“You’re wearing slacks? I thought you said you were naked.”

“I said I might be naked. Sadly, I’m not. I’m wearing a grass skirt and a coconut bra and a string of flowers in my hair.”

I laughed more loudly than I intended. “No you’re not.”

“I am. And I can serenade you with my ukulele after we eat.”

“What are you really wearing?” I giggled.

“A pinstripe tailored shirt and slacks.”

“What kind of shoes?”

“Uhhh, brown leather lace ups and a matching belt.”

“Are you wearing a chunky watch?”

“Just my Transformers watch. It looks like Megatron.”

“You don’t have a Transformers watch.”

“You’re right. It’s some fancy brass thing that goes with the belt. Kind of looks like an old-school diving watch.”

I moaned. “Why didn’t you tell me before? Your outfit sounds even hotter than picturing you naked.”

“Don’t forget to picture the old school brass diving helmet I’m wearing. My voice doesn’t sound echoey because I have the round porthole face-mask open.” He chuckled.

“Why do you keep ruining my image of you in a sexy outfit?”

“Because the sound of you laughing makes me happy.”

“Oh.” That was too sweet for words. “But seriously, why can’t you just let me have my mental picture of you in a classy outfit?”

He chuckled. “Women. You don’t make any sense. Why would you rather imagine a guy dressed up when you can see him naked? I thought you ladies loved abs and asses.”

“We also love the allure of power and the surprise of what might lay underneath. Plus, women love playing dress up.”

“Men love playing undress up.”

“Shouldn’t it be undress down?”

“That’s not the way my cock is pointing.”

I laughed. “Have you been hard this entire time?”

“Of course. Because I’m picturing you completely naked.”

“How do you know I’m not?”

“Be careful, Irish. If you are, I will fuck you right here and now.”

“You can’t! I’m dressed! In an old school diving suit! You’ll never be able to get it off.”

“But I bet I can get you off.”

“Ahem.” It was a third voice.

I nearly jumped out of my chair.

“My name is Pierre and I will be your waiter this evening.”

I was silent and extremely embarrassed while Pierre went over the menu in low tones. There were four basic choices: beef, chicken, fish, or vegetarian. He asked if either of us had any allergies to gluten or peanut or anything else. We both said no. He then told us the entrees came with exotic side dishes that would melt in our mouths. He didn’t say what kind. My mind raced all over the place in anticipation. Without the distraction of vision, I noticed I was literally drooling. I chose the fish because I was in a deep sea diving mood for some reason. Lion chose the beef and asked to have the chef leave it bloody. Of course.

When Pierre left, I got to thinking about Dr. Hackett, wondering if he might be overhearing all of my dirty talk with Lion. I had told Hackett I was here alone, but if he was listening in, he might ask who I was with when I saw him at work. I could always lie to Hackett, but we all knew how good I was at that. And if Lion used my name, or I his, it wouldn’t matter what I said later.

“Mr. Smithsonian, can I ask a favor?”

Lion chuckled, “Anything for you, Mrs. Smithsonian.”

“Can you call me Ivy while we’re here?”

“Ivy? Why not Irish?”

“That’s too obvious. Call me Ivy. And I’ll call you… Bob.”

“Bob?” He chuckled. “Pick something better.”

“You’re right. That’s too cheesy. How about… Dick. Yes, I like dick.” I giggled. “Wait, I didn’t mean that.”

“I think you did.”

I squirmed in my plush chair, already aroused from our earlier flirting. What had I been thinking wearing a thong on a date with Lion? My Georgette dress was as thick as tissue paper. I hoped my thong was extra absorbent. Whatever. You only lived once. Maybe I could sit on my napkin. It was thick linen. “Can I borrow your napkin?”

“Sure. Do you want me to hand it to you?”

“I can get it.” I reached over the table, careful not to knock over any water glasses I might have forgotten about, and grabbed it off his plate. I unfolded the triangle and put it under my ass.

“You finished?”

“I’ll give it to you later.”

“What are you doing with it?”

“Sitting on it.”

“Mmmmm.”
That voice
. “Iri—I mean, Ivy. You just made my dick hard.”

“I thought your
you
was already hard.”

He laughed softly. “Now that you mention it.”

I giggled. I don’t know what it was about Lion, but he brought out my childish side. I really liked that. It was nice to take a break from always being the serious doctor with people’s lives in my hands, or the concerned parent at home. I needed some frivolity in my life.

“You know what I’m thinking, Ivy?”

“What?”

“I’m picturing my napkin pressing up against your wet pussy. It’s amazing how being blind allows your mind to go all over the place. I’m also picturing wrapping that napkin around my face like an outlaw after you give it back. But only after you’ve soaked it.”

I laughed. “That’s disgusting.”

“And funny.”

I pictured him in the sexy outfit he described earlier, but with the addition of a white linen outlaw mask. “You’re right. So, have you always been into sniffing?”

“When it comes to your pussy, absolutely. I can smell it right now.”

“No you can’t!”

“I beg to differ, Irish. I told you I have a great sense of smell. And I’ve smelt your pussy many times before and I can smell it now. Not as strongly as I will later when you give me that napkin. But damn, I fucking love it.”

“You are so dirty, Dick.”

“But I don’t have a dirty dick.”

“I hope not.”

“Your appetizers,” Pierre whispered.

Shit. How much of that had he heard? Pierre was too sneaky for his own good. They didn’t give you much warning. Probably on purpose. For all we knew, there was a team of people just outside the curtain recording our conversation. Or having a good laugh. Maybe I needed to tone it down tonight. Pierre set the food on the table and left. At least, I assumed he did. I heard the velvet curtain swish, but that wasn’t proof. I’d have to trust my sixth sense. Or get my phone out and shine a light. No, that would ruin the ambiance. Besides, I liked the sense of mystery and danger.

Back to the food, which I could smell, and it smelled delicious. I was dying to know what the appetizers were. “Do we use our fingers?”

“I don’t see why not.”

I felt my food. “What is it?”

“Let’s see. It’s hot, wet… your pussy?”

“Oh, Dick. You kill me.”

“I will later. With my dick.”

“Eat your pussy, Dick,” I snorted.

“Wow,” Lion said after we ate some appetizers. “That is really good. I think it’s stuffed mushrooms with spinach.”

“I think you’re right.”

“And it’s the best damn stuffed mushrooms I’ve ever had. Except for yours.”

“I don’t have a stuffed mushroom.”

“Whatever it is you have, I’ll be stuffing it later. With my
me
.”