"Now for some honesty." Val tells me, as we stop dancing.
"Alright." I reply.
"I came alone. Those are girls I met in the parking lot. We gathered together and summoned some courage to enter as one." She tells me.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't chicken out. You are amazing." I insist.
"So, here I am. Completely naked. Talking to you. At a party to which I have no idea how I got invited." Val continues. "And my name isn't Val, but let's just go with it."
"Well, Val, again I am the luckiest guy here, and more than happy to be your bodyguard." I say.
The big voice guy interrupts us. "Get ready for our first game. You need a partner, opposite or same sex, it don't matter. This room is a no-judgement zone."
"Let's get new drinks, and play." I tell Val.
"My thought exactly." She replies.
We gather two more drinks, and wander back toward the crowd, now gathering in pairs. It's an interesting room. The masks help me concentrate or else I would be tripping all over my tongue. No matter their state of dress, there is eye candy aplenty. As we progress every so slowly, arms touching with every step, what I can only say would be a supermodel in real life approaches us. She is otherworldly tall, and covered in beads.
"Beads?" She asks us.
"Of course." I respond with a smile.
"Well, take as many as you want." She says, holding up her arms which are also draped in the various sized and colored beads.
Turning around for us to see the beads, I realize very quickly that, Ummmm, she is naked under all the hardware, and I imagine she will be completely naked fairly shortly. I take a few strands off her arms, and then reach for a few off her chest and pull them over her head. This goddess of beads saunters off, leaving me with my own dream within a dream next to me. I hand Val a few strands.
"May these beads bring you the blessings of a wonderful evening." I say, placing a couple of strands around her neck. "I know you have blessed me."
Val taking a strand from me, says."This is fun, and I am blessed by your respect."
.
I can feel her breath on my face as she reaches around my head. I give her a small kiss, causing her to smile.
"Now, let's see what this game is about." I say, still enjoying the taste of her lips on mine.
Our surroundings again come into focus. There is a fair amount of skin, probably about 20 people like us, completely nude. There are now about 40 more with some sort of item being worn, mostly lingerie, bras, thongs, banana hammocks, and in all shapes and sizes. Like I said before, the masks keep me focused on Val.
"Alright, let's begin our first game." The big voice resumes as Val and myself wander in past the fringes of the crowd.
"The name of this first game is 'How close is too close?'. Who's ready?" We hear, and the directions come immediately. "You and your partner must stand as close as possible, without touching. The couple to keep from touching the longest, wins."
Pretty simple. I'm not sure how they will judge us, but I'm sure I won't be winning this one. Val turns to face me, and we inch closer and closer. I can feel the electricity increasing between our bodies. Keeping my eyes on Val's eyes, this turns almost into a staring contest.
"So, how did you get the invite?" I ask.
"Mystery letter in my office inbox. No stamp, no return address. I almost tossed it with the junk mail. I'm just glad my secretary missed it." Val says.
"Secretary? Hold no, let me guess. Attorney? Doctor?" I say.
"I own a travel agency. How did you get yours?" Val asks in return.
"Mailbox mystery letter I also luckily did not toss." I reply. "My love for NOLA brought me here."
