One of the cities I visit occasionally on business trips has a sex shop inside an otherwise ordinary strip mall. I had driven past it for years, sometimes taking note of the sign that read "Adult Fun" as I went by, but not paying it much mind. One early fall day, I happened to be stopped at a traffic light right in front of this shop, and it caught my eye.
I'm alone, and no one knows me here,
I thought to myself,
nothing to lose by checking it out.
Instead of driving past as I usually would, I turned and parked in the parking lot behind the shop. I sat in my car for a minute or two, trying to think of some reason I shouldn't go in. Coming up with nothing, I locked my car and walked casually into the sex shop. After walking through the double doors, I paused to take it all in. The store was quite a bit larger than it appeared to be from the outside, and had many racks of adult items; everything from slinky lingerie to dildos and other toys, and everything in between.
Hands in my pockets, I strolled casually through the store, noting that it was mostly empty of people, with the exception of a couple who seemed to be lingering near a display case of herbal supplements, and a lone cashier. I made my way past the couple, who stopped their conversation and eyed me as I walked past. They looked like any average young couple, maybe shopping for some toys to spice things up a little. The woman was plain looking, bordering on nerdy, wearing an unflattering brown canvas jacket and baggy pants. The guy had a country look about him, wearing jeans and a denim jacket over a black t-shirt, with brown curly hair dangling below a nondescript trucker hat.
I approached the cashier casually, and she looked up at me appraisingly. I wondered briefly what she gleaned from my appearance. I'm an average 40 year old guy, fit for my age, but no rock star. I dress well, and my best guess was that she sized me up for exactly her target market, a lonely middle-aged guy with money to spend. She was probably in her mid-20s but had a hardened look that is probably requisite for being the lone cashier in a sex shop, and was dressed in a way that communicated clearly that, while everything else in the store was for sale, she was not.
"What are we looking for today?" She asked smoothly.
"Well, I always drive by this place, but I've never been inside" I started, "just curious what's in here."
"Got it," she said, maybe a little disappointed, the continued, "Well, feel free to look around. Lingerie and costumes down here, BDSM gear and movies up there." She pointed to a raised area behind a wall where I had already noticed some bondage toys hanging from the walls.
"Also, there's a theater behind the curtain over there," she said, pointing to a set of drab brown curtains I hadn't noticed before. "$20 to get in."
I glanced over at the theater area. "What... happens in the theater?" I asked, stupidly.
"You watch porn," she said with a little smirk. "With other people."
I hesitated for just a moment, then quickly extracted a $20 bill from my wallet. I decided to take a chance on one more stupid question. "Do people ever get into, like bondage or fetish stuff in the theater?" It felt like one of those movie scenes where you say the wrong thing and everything goes quiet. I was aware that the couple who I had noticed earlier looked over at me.
After a pause, the cashier said carefully, "I have no idea." With that, she turned and walked away.
Why on earth did I say that?
I thought to myself. Seeing all of the BDSM toys for sale across the store had probably started me thinking, and wondering if there was any connection between the toys they sold, and what people did inside the porn theater.
Of course not,
I said to myself, and hung my head as I walked toward the theater entrance.
After I pushed through the curtain into the theater, I paused for a moment to let my eyes adjust to the dark. It wasn't a large theater; maybe three rows of seats in front of a big screen. There were also a few couches, and something that looked like a massage table. As advertised, there was porn playing on the screen, at that moment a fairly extreme closeup of a man and woman going at it. The volume was low, just loud enough to hear the grunting and moaning above the cheesy porn music.
Aware of maybe two or three other men in the theater, all of whom had turned to look at me when I came in, I made my way quickly to a seat, thinking I'd take in the scene for a few minutes, then call it a day. I heard a swooshing sound behind me, and turned to see the same couple I had seen before come through the curtain, and take a seat on one of the couches not far from me.
This could get interesting,
I thought to myself,
are they going to have sex in here?
The movie was completely uninspiring; if it had a plot of any kind, it had long since plunged into gratuitous sex that left nothing to the imagination. I had been watching for just a minute when I felt someone standing next to me. It was the woman from the couple who had just come in.
"Hey man," she said softly, close to my ear. "Want to come play with us?"
I looked at her skeptically. Why would a younger couple want anything to do with a guy like me? She stood, hands on her knees, watching me squirm for a moment, then stepped even closer to me. I saw her hand move into her coat pocket, then withdraw about half way with what was unmistakably a pair of metal handcuffs.
"I heard what you asked the lady up front," she whispered, "We're into it. Come sit with us."
I was transfixed. I looked from the woman over to her partner, still sitting on the couch. He was watching us intently. He made eye contact with me, then smiled pleasantly and gestured with his head toward the couch he was sitting on.
These are strangers,
my rational brain screamed,
Don't do this, walk away!
But I couldn't walk away. If this was genuine, it was better than any fantasy I had ever had. Though I had no sexual interest in men specifically, the idea of being dominated by a couple was scintillating. Their average, even drab appearance gave me some confidence that they weren't tweakers just looking for a score.
Slowly I stood up, and stepped carefully over to the couch where the man was sitting, the woman following closely behind me, each step feeling more dread, and more excitement. I sat carefully in the middle of the couch next to the man, and the woman crossed and sat on the other side of me so that I was between them.
"Ok," I said, maybe a little too loudly. "What happens now?"
"Relax," the woman whispered into my ear, and I tried to look casual, forcing my body to relax, and go with the flow.
We sat in silence for a moment, staring at the screen saying nothing, just three people watching porn together. Just as I began to think that this was some strange mixup, or maybe I was supposed to do or say something, the woman put her hand on my thigh, rubbing gently. Her other hand produced the handcuffs again, and she leaned over and whispered, "Let's get these on you, ok?" I nodded.
The woman handed the handcuffs to her partner, and while she continued to rub my inner thigh, he carefully locked one cuff around my right wrist, then pulled my left hand over and locked it into the other cuff. It happened quickly and with an ease that seemed well-practiced.
I sat there and savored the sensation for a moment, my hands cuffed in front of me by two strangers, the woman still rubbing her hand up and down my thigh, getting closer and closer to my crotch. The man had a hand on my other leg as well, and between the two of them, their touches felt both sensual and dominating, as if they were ready to hold me in my seat if I tried to get up.
Then the man leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Lean forward, and spread your legs." His voice was more stern than the woman's had been, and these words came across like a command, though not in a menacing way. I did as he said, leaning my upper body forward, and pushing my knees apart. Immediately the woman's hand moved into my crotch and fondled my cock, rock hard already in my pants.
"He's happy," the woman said across me to her partner, who nodded slightly.
After a moment, during which the woman continued gently rubbing my cock through my pants, the man said quietly, "I want his hands behind him." The woman stopped rubbing, and the man reached behind me, unlocking and releasing one of my wrists.
"Scoot forward and put your hands behind your back," the man said. I paused for a beat, sensing this was the point of no return. Once they had my hands cuffed behind my back, I was effectively their captive.
The woman, noticing my hesitation, reached behind me, pushing her hand behind my back and all the way down to my butt. Pushing me gently forward, she laughed softly into my ear, saying, "Come on, you wanted this, right?"
I relented, and scooted my body forward, bringing my hands around behind my back, the metal cuffs still dangling from my one cuffed hand. Immediately the man's hands were working behind my back, locking my other wrist swiftly into the cuff, securing my hands together.