"Please, come this way," she said, giving no indication she had heard his comment. "Your car and baggage will be stored for you for the duration of your stay. Any medications or medical supplies you may need should come with you; otherwise, all is provided. A reminder: cameras and phones are not permitted within Eros House or on its grounds."
"Orientation will commence in the the Cherry Hall in half an hour." She led us down a richly appointed hallway, hung with classically-inspired erotic paintings. I fixed my gaze politely on the paintings as we passed.
We walked through the hall's open double doors into a room milling with a couple dozen people. Some clung to each other like Oscar and I did, others chatted excitedly with one another. A young man stationed inside the door checked our names off a list and handed each of us a clipboard and a pen.
"Just a little paperwork before the fun begins," he said, flashing a clean-shaven smile, "to acknowledge the intent of your stay here, a sign-off agreeing to the house-ubiquitous safe words and house policies, and a copy of the profiles and limits each of you provided with your application."
I reread the limits listed underneath my name. Perdita Price. No cutting, burning, piercing... I thought I felt the young man watch me as I read, and embarrassment burned my cheeks. Hastily, I scribbled my signature on the bottom of the page, thrust the clipboard toward Oscar to return, and walked several paces into the room to wait for him.
I felt the warm flush in my face—betraying me, as usual. Everyone in this room is here for the same reasons I am, I told myself. It didn't work.
Oscar caught up with me and I took his arm. He kissed the top of my head. We strolled the room's perimeter, making a pretence of enjoying more of the mansion's art collection as we waited for the orientation to begin. I had a terrifying thought that Oscar might engage us in some conversation, and as if on cue a woman standing nearby turned to us and introduced herself. My eyes searched desperately for a nearby bathroom exit, and saw none.
"Hi," the woman said, "I'm Carmen. It's our third time here—this time I'm doing Package A, my partner's doing B. Is this your first time?"
"Yeah," said Oscar. "My wife and I have wanted to come here ever since we heard about it. This place looks crazy!"
"Oh, just you wait," said Carmen. "It hasn't even started."
I was relieved when finally the large wooden doors were shut behind the last arriving guests and, moments later, a door at the opposite end of the room swung open. The noise level in the room dropped to a hush as in strode a man, looking as if he had stepped out of the eighteenth century in a regency-era waistcoat and white cravat. Six other men and women followed, each clad in a different blend of couture fetishware and luxe costumery.
The first man cleared his throat, and the murmuring stopped.
"Good morning," he said, in a pleasantly modulated voice. The others fanned out beside him to face the small crowd. "I welcome you warmly to Eros House. My name is Master Aries—though some of you will address me as Sir while you are in my house. You know who you are."
Master Aries smiled into the crowd, and I felt it the sting in it touch me.
"'Package 'A' folks, you're welcome to take a seat," he said, gesturing with a gloved hand toward two rows of red upholstered chairs. Oscar kissed me, and with a last whisper of "I love you," made his way towards the chairs. Don't leave me! I thought desperately, as I watched him go.
Master Aries swept his gaze over those who remained. "The rest of you," his voice grew playful. "...kneel." He pointed to a dark red area rug to the left of the chair seating.
All around me, the crowd was separating into those who took the chairs and those sitting on the floor. I stood, frozen in place. I had to move or I would be the only one left standing, but if I followed the instructions I'd be visibly admitting what I was—what I wanted—in front of all these people. I couldn't do it, I thought.
The crowd thinned as everyone took their assigned seats, until I was indeed the last one standing, wracked with misery. Then, Master Aries looked at me. The direct eye contact sent a jolt through my body, and I couldn't say what changed, exactly, as he held out his hand toward the red rug, but suddenly it was easy to go there. To admit it. It was ok.
I sank to my knees on the floor and looked up at him as he addressed the now seated arrivals.
"I'd like to introduce my esteemed colleagues: Mistress Agrippa. Mistress Tigerlily. Daddy Rio. Domina Velvet. Master Jonathan. And Master Black.
"You are all here for the two-week couples package, which means that for the next fourteen days you will be under our tutelage and care. For the first week, you will be temporarily separated from the person you arrived with, and each of you will be assigned to one of us as students. We will give the tops among you the tools to become commanders of the art and craft of BDSM play. And as for the 'Package B' folks, well..." Aries raised an eyebrow at those of us seated on the carpet. "We have much to teach you, too."
"In the second week you'll be reunited with your partner and you will begin practicing together, under our eye. If we've done our jobs right, by then the tops will be skilled players of the flesh, and the bottoms will be transformed into the pliant, willing creatures they crave to become."
As he spoke, I eyed the lineup of the house masters, wondering which one I would be assigned to. Domina Velvet was vampish, with pale skin and dark corsetry. She smiled lazily, but her eyes were watchful. Daddy Rio was the only one who didn't seem to be in costume, though he looked at home among his more ostentatious colleagues. There was something about Master Black that put me in mind of a vulture, and silently I hoped it would not be him.
But it was Master Aries whose presence I felt like a physical force. One or two of the others may have been handsomer, perhaps, but Aries' voice was rich and mesmerizing, and his gaze magnetic. His hair was longish, tied at the nape of his neck, and a faint scar curved along his hairline. When the orientation drew to a close and we were shepherded onwards in our new groups, I looked back for one last glimpse of Oscar's dark blond head before we parted ways and I left through the small door, deeper into Eros House.
