My wife brought home an interesting advertisement one day.
"Club Switch," read the announcement, "was founded by a man and a woman deeply dedicated to consensual power exchange between men and women. We believe that consensual power exchange promotes awareness and equity in the real world. By allowing people to explore their fantasies of control in a safe environment, we promote the goals of social justice and sex-positive feminism."
I was intrigued, and agreed to attend the club with my wife. We planned it for a Saturday night and imagined a romantic evening. The club had an intriguing policy: "Each night, we will flip a coin and randomly choose whether men or women will dominate. Couples will agree to spend at least three hours in the club before knowing who will be in control. The mystery is part of the thrill."
I couldn't decide whether I wanted to be dominant or submissive. I imagined that if I were dominant I would have my wife serve me like a maid and bring me my food. I would make her tell me how handsome and smart I am and treat me like a king. Maybe, I thought, if things were really risquΓ©, I would even indulge in a secret kinky fantasy of mine. For example, I could secretly touch my wife's breast under her shirt while we were enjoying dinner. Or I could command her to give me a hand job under the table. I imagined all the other couple sitting around having dinner, not realizing the outrageously kinky things we were doing.
On the other hand, if she were in control, I imagined she would enjoy bossing me around and telling me what to do. She would make me compliment her and treat her like a queen. She would direct me on how to kiss her and when, and perhaps, once again, if things felt really safe and she got turned on by her power, she might even have me secretly touch her clit under the table, with no one else realizing what was going on. These were the kinds of fantasies we had at the time: bossing each other around, getting to be "king" or "queen" for a day β and, at my most kinky, fantasies of having sex secretly in public!
We arrived at Club Switch around 10pm. A couple of large bouncers let us in, and we found ourselves on line to enter a small antechamber. The line was full of male-female pairs. Heterosexual pairing was one of the requirements to enter the club. One could bring a lover or a spouse, but the male/female dynamic was intrinsic to the club's policy of switching. Lesbians and gay men were encouraged to pair up if they wanted to get in β but they were reminded that, once inside, power dynamics were strictly determined by biological sex.
The other couples on the line ranged in age and attractiveness and elegance. All were dressed up to some degree. Some of them looked equally innocent and curious, like us. Others had a more hardcore look, which for the first time made me wonder if my imagination of the Club's interior was really accurate. We were going to be having dinner, right? There wouldn't be any nude waiters or performers, would there? I had assumed this was going to be a normal dinner club that simply used the "gimmick" of putting either men or women in control each evening. I wouldn't actually witness any sex acts, would I? The idea of doing so was exciting but also scary for me, since I had never taken part in any kind of public or community sexual event before.
Finally, my wife Andrea and I were admitted to the antechamber through a thick red velvet curtain and then a very solid wooden door. We left the line behind us snaking out towards the main entrance, and entered the antechamber holding hands. There we were greeted by a beautiful man and woman in elegant evening dress. They greeted us warmly and smiled comforting smiles, as if they could tell that we had never done anything like this before.
"Welcome to Club Switch," the gentleman said. "We need to go over a few guidelines before we can allow you to enter the club." Andrea and I nodded, our curiosity piqued.
"First of all," said the woman, who was tall and beautiful herself, "You do understand that one of you will be in control of the other tonight?" We nodded again. "The entrance fee for Club Switch is one hundred dollars per couple," the woman nodded. "However, we will initially charge your credit card in the amount of one thousand dollars." My wife and I exchanged a brief glance, confused.
The hostess explained: "This is part of our consent policy. Either of you is free to leave the club at any time. You have only to speak the words 'I forfeit' in a clear voice, and you will immediately be escorted to the exit. However, if you leave before three hours have passed, you will be charged one thousand rather than one hundred dollars for the evening. Thus, although your continued presence is always consensual, you have an incentive of nine hundred dollars to remain inside for at least three hours."
Now that sounded kinky. I would have liked to take a few minutes to think about it, because it really felt very edge to me to risk so much money, but I remembered the line of other couples waiting to enter and I felt that I couldn't be leisurely about the decision. Andrea said it sounded fine to her, so I agreed. After all, it was just a bit of power play. The worst-case scenario was that I would feel bored or a bit embarrassed at having Andrea boss me around in front of a bunch of strangers. I figured I could endure that for three hours, no problem. Anyway, it would be an interesting experience.
Andrea and I each signed the bottom of a contract indicating that we understood the rules, and then I ran my credit card through the machine. The receipt was printed for one thousand dollars. My eyes widened, to see such a large number! But the hostess patted my shoulder gently and spoke in a reassuring voice: "Don't worry, all you have to do is stick around for a few hours, and nine hundred dollars will be refunded to your account." I nodded, silent and increasingly curious about what was taking place in the rooms beyond.
The host and hostess then stepped backwards and drew apart another set of red velvet curtains at the back of the room. Behind these curtains were two more sturdy wooden doors, clearly labeled: MEN and WOMEN.
I think both of us were a little shocked by this. We hadn't expected to be separated. I thought they would probably give one of us a bracelet or a crown or something to indicate that we were in control. In one particularly kinky moment, I had imagined that the other of us would have to wear a dog collar on top of our elegant eveningwear. Why were they separating us now? It occurred to me that they were going to brief us further on the rules of the club.