Hidden Desire (Silk Grove part one) by Aurora Dupree Page B

“It's my first time here. Not really sure what to
make of it.”
    “ Everyone's a little nervous
their first time,” the man said, sitting down across from her
without so much as asking. He extended a hand. “My name is Ricardo
Blackwell.”
    “ Naomi Spencer.”
    “ Pleased to meet you. Naomi.
I've always liked that name.” He gave her a steely gaze.
    “ The bar and dancefloor are
boring,” Ricardo said, continuing his line of thought from earlier.
“The relaxation rooms are really where the fun's at.”
    “ Oh yeah? What goes on in
the relaxation rooms?”
    “ Well there's only one way
to find out, isn't there?”
    “ Right,” she said, rolling
her eyes. “And I bet you're going to ask me to come with you there.
Well, you seem very nice, Ricardo, but I don't think
so.”
    Actually, she didn't think he seemed nice. He
was handsome, sure, but he was also pretty damn forward, and she
wasn't used to such brazenness.
    “ Now who's presuming?” he
said. “I was just telling you how it is. Most people in the Silk
Grove have something to prove. Not me. And neither do you. You seem
different from all the others.”
    “ Different? Different
how?”
    He waved an arm.
    “ Doesn't matter. I'll be
around, Naomi. Come find me.”
    She looked up, and he was gone. Naomi rubbed
her eyes, like he had been an apparition or a phantom. Did everyone
in the Silk Grove talk in such riddles?
    She decided to go back and look for Cherish,
make sure she hadn't done anything she would regret. Naomi walked
past the dance floor and the pretty, manicured people, past the
long aquarium and the bar. She sighed. All of these people would
continue to live their fancy, fulfilling lives, while she would go
back to her job as a desk clerk tomorrow. She felt like Cinderella,
after the clock had struck midnight. This was just a fairytale for
her, and soon the dream was going to be extinguished.
    Back at the table, Cherish had her arm
wrapped around a male admirer, and they were talking and laughing
together. Naomi stared at her, feeling a little twinge of
jealousy.
    “ Hey there, partner,”
Cherish said. “Me and Frank here were going to go check out the
relaxation rooms. You want to come along?”
    “ I don't know,” Naomi said.
“I don't really want to be the third wheel.”
    “ Nonsense,” said Frank, who
cut a striking figure despite his strong cologne. “There are no
third wheels at the Silk Grove.”
    “ Jesus,” Naomi said. “Silk
Grove this, Silk Grove that. I'm already here, and people won't
shut up about the place. Fine, I'll go check out these damn
relaxation rooms, see what all the fuss is about. But don't expect
me to be impressed.”
    “ Lighten up,” Cherish said,
slinging her arm over Frank's shoulder. “No need for a
freakout.”
    “ I'm not,” Naomi said,
crossing her arms. They headed away from the bar and south toward
the relaxation rooms. To her left a piano tinkled a soft jazz
number. Naomi could hear laughter and carousing up
ahead.
    Another host clad in a dark suit waited to
meet them at the entrance.
    “ Right this way,” he said,
waving them along with a smile. “The Peacock room is vacant, for
your pleasure.”
    “ The rooms have names?”
Cherish whispered to her. But they didn't argue. The three of them
stepped inside the Peacock room.
    “ Wow,” Naomi said. “This
place is incredible.”
     
    In the center of the room was a large sauna,
like a Roman bath. Doric columns stretched up to the ceiling, and
the entire room was bathed in steam. In the far corner was a large
open wardrobe, but instead of clothes, it held an assortment of
whips and chains, leather corsets and bondage gear. Naomi stared at
it, awestruck.
    “ What is that? S&M
stuff?”
    “ Of course,” Cherish
said.
    “ What are you talking
about?”
    Frank looked at her like she was touched in
the head.
    “ The Silk Grove is the most
exclusive sex club in the city? Didn't you know that?”
    “ Sex club? Cherish, what is
he