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  Thick, lush forest surrounded the building, the summer-green leaves blowing gently in a computer-generated breeze. It was a nice effect that added a layer of authenticity to the world.

  “Guess we’ll see just how close it truly is. Let me whip something up for us.” The controls were easy enough to quickly figure out. She put together a character truly fitting of the handle Trixy Malone. Red flowing locks. Big boobs. Shapely legs that went on for miles. After a few adjustments—and the addition of a low-cut, tight fitting outfit she would have never selected in real life—she saved the character. Steve’s wolf whistle confirmed she’d chosen wisely.

  She dropped her newly minted avatar in the center of a pixelated cobblestone street. She used the arrow keys on her keyboard to steer toward a signpost at an intersection. Three arrows directed the flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. To her left was the club. To her right, a city center bustling with activity.

  “Interesting,” she said, tapping her fingers again the desk again. “Wasn’t expecting there to be anything beyond the club in here.”

  “How about we split up?” Steve offered, “You can check out the town and I’ll take a look at club.”

  Maddy glanced through the coding before asking, “Can we do that?”

  “You’re not the only one with skills, Zane.” A second later a duplicate of her Trixy avatar appeared on the screen. “Simple enough to drop a loop into the code to trick the program into allowing us two av’s of the same character. Go forth and explore. Let me know what you find.”

  She watched Steve guide the dupe of her sim toward the club building before she headed to the right. As she drew closer, she noticed mixed-use buildings that housed a variety of businesses. Strange for a fetish club website. She wandered around for a time, making small talk with the other simulated people through simple chat bubbles. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular in this secondary world, just somewhere to settle into comfortably and put her observation skills to work. Steve hadn’t said anything for a few minutes, so she assumed he was busy exploring the club. Or getting his mind blown.

  She approached a pair of sims who were obviously not inhibited by the public setting. The female avatar sat on an ornate park bench, her legs spread. A man kneeled between her thighs, his face buried deep as he worshipped her. Just as Maddy passed, the woman grabbed the man’s head and gave off a high, keening wail according to the little chat bubble that appeared over the sim’s head. Of course simulated public sex would be allowed in an explicit virtual theme park.

  When she noticed a yellow blinking light at the corner of her screen, she remembered her old computer game’s need to be fed at regular intervals. “You getting the same notification, Steve?”

  “Yeah, I see it. I was just going to ask you about it. Health depletion, maybe?”

  “I think so. Give me a second.” She steered her sim to a frozen yogurt cart to purchase a small tub. She clicked “eat” and her sim gobbled up the sweet confection in record time. The yellow dot changed to a red heart, her sim content with her life not hanging in the balance.

  “Well, isn’t that clever? Think we’re good to go now.” Easy to see how hours upon hours could be lost inside with members dropping a few cool bills in a short span of time. It was more than just a way to interact sexually with the club and other members. They could also have entire lives. Families. Jobs, for fuck’s sake, as she thought about the sim that had sold her the treat. “Looks like there are two settings. A single payment system for an allotted amount of time and another game mode like this. Either way, someone is going to make a fortune when this program clears beta testing.”

  “No shit,” Steve responded.

  “How are you making out?”

  “This place is unreal, Maddy. Never seen anything like it.”

  “Not offending your virgin sensibilities, is it?” She hadn’t thought of it before, but perhaps it would have been better for her to explore the club aspect of the sim instead of Steve.

  “Very funny. I’m a grown boy who can handle—holy fucksticks. These two guys are in a wrestling ring doing some seriously impressive MMA moves. This is better than watching Conner MacGregor in the cage...or maybe not.”

  “Okay?” Maddy asked, concerned Steve had gotten in over his head.

  “Guy just came out of the crowd, grabbed the other guy’s dick and started blowing him. They both took the first guy down. Time for me to move along.”

  Maddy giggled at the panic-tinged words from her friend. “Sure you don’t want to switch?”

  “No. Things can’t get much worse than that. Let you know if I find anything else worth discussing.”

  She wanted to point out Steve was going to probably run into a lot he’d have questions about, but she left him alone for the time being. Instead, she angled toward a theater and decided to go inside to see what kind of moviegoers this place catered to. It wouldn’t be hard to guess, given the atmosphere, but she wondered if the movies would be computer-generated as well. As she slipped through a pair of swinging doors, she found a darkened theater with most of the seats filled.

  Up on the oversized screen, the images weren’t simulated as she’d thought. Instead, it appeared to be a live feed from inside the real club. It was an odd mix of life and computer-generated simulator she found fascinating. Surprisingly, the video quality was remarkable. The decor of the room on the screen was impeccable and lush. The theater around her, though truly just an artful arrangement of pixels, had the same attention to detail.

  A sign this place wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill porn site managed by a bunch of sweaty, kinky people looking to make some money. This was how these people lived. They breathed bondage and domination.

  Small conversations bubbles appeared over the heads of several members. Though they appeared interested in the video playing on the screen, the hot ticket for the night would be a session starring Kochran Duke himself. If the accolades were to be believed, Kochran wasn’t just the owner of the club, but an active participant. The Hardcore King of Noble House had quite a reputation, and a number of fans judging by the chatter taking place among the theater patrons. Evidently, he was the best at what he did. The only person she knew who was that good at what he did was a comic book character, and she seriously doubted Kochran had an adamantium-coated skeleton or looked like Hugh Jackman.

  While she didn’t consider herself a prude by any means, that was a lot of naked flesh parading around as entertainment for the audience while they waited for the featured scene to begin. They’d taken a page straight out of Rocky Horror—the avatars on the stage acted out whatever was occurring on the screen. Right down to the orgy. Thighs and shoulders and breasts and butts and cocks all came together in a pile of sinfully decadent human flesh. Loud moans and groans accompanied the sounds of flesh slapping together.

  Outside of the sim, her body temperature rose. She was alone in her house, Steve couldn’t see her, but that didn’t stop her cheeks from heating as she watched the people writhing on both screens. She shivered. Goose bumps crawled up her arms, collected at the base of her neck, shot down her spine and punched her in the gut. She’d gone from world-class hacker to wanton sex goddess in two seconds flat.

  Now she understood why Noble House was considered one of the premier fetish sites on the internet.

  Chapter Two

  By the time she turned her focus to the screen in the theater again, the featured event had started. It appeared she’d only missed the first minute or so, but already the woman was naked. She was crouched in the center of a room filled with people who were all dressed in various kinds of clothing, from jeans to elaborate formal wear.

  In contrast, the woman only had pink ribbons tied around strategic points. Long trails of excess ribbon dangled from the pretty bows at her wrists and ankles. Matching cords of rope had been woven around her upper torso in an elaborate network of kn
ots that perfectly framed and supported her breasts. In her hands, she balanced two silver serving trays that gleamed in the overhead lighting. One of the trays tilted wildly before leveling again.

  The angle of the camera shifted, and the reason for the woman’s struggle became clear. A low-profile box had been positioned between her legs and served as the anchor for a device that had been locked in place so it could be angled toward her labia.

  A man stepped out of the crowd of people and placed a mug on one of the trays. Another man did the same, placing his cup on the opposite tray. The woman expertly adjusted to the additional weight, though her legs continued to tremble from the stress. Despite the struggle, one glimpse at the woman’s face showed the flush of her cheeks, the glazed appearance of her eyes indicating her arousal.

  Another man stepped into the frame. Though he was only visible from the waist down, Maddy instantly recognized there was something different about him. While he stood with the observers, he wasn’t one of them. Not different, just...in charge. As though—

  Her thoughts ended when the man struck the woman’s back with the short tails of a flogger.

  “Steve, you still there?”

  “Yeah.” Despite his answer, there was a definite strain in his voice. “Think this is a little too much for me. Mind if I take off? You going to be all right on your own?”

  “Of course. Do what you need to. I’ll write up my notes when I’m done and send them to you.” She already had plenty of information to build a report around, but she was invested in the activities going on around her. This may not have been Steve’s idea of fun, but it certainly ranked high on her list.

  She waited until Steve’s name disappeared from the connection. Though she was no longer sharing her screen with him, she didn’t want to take any chances.

  Maddy adjusted her computer’s sound so the video stream was the prevalent noise instead of the chatter of the observers in the theater. Judging by the noises of pleasure filling her office, she knew the woman enjoyed the pain.

  Maddy’s attention turned to the man as the camera panned upward, finally showing his face. Kochran. He was dressed as though he intended to spend the day at the office, in gray slacks, a black button-down shirt and a gray tie. The only indication he was working hard was the fact that the sleeves of his shirt had been folded back a few times to expose his wrists and forearms.

  Though he exerted little energy, his efforts were paying off in a big way as the woman’s cries grew louder. Despite the fact Maddy was an interloper, she continued to watch as the man carefully landed hit after hit. He made a gesture to the crowd and several people stepped forward, each of them holding glassware of various shape and sizes.

  Though her arms dropped a little from the weight, she kept the trays level as items were added. Her legs began to shake violently and her eyes lost focus. Kochran stopped hitting her with the tails and scooped his hand through the woman’s long fall of raven hair. He stepped against her, tugging on her locks hard enough that she had to lean against him for support. Though Maddy wasn’t there, she knew from the tremble of the woman’s thighs the submissive had just orgasmed.

  “Don’t drop the trays, little subbie.” Kochran held her shaking body through the quakes, giving her support. “You wouldn’t want to displease me, would you?” The woman’s face was a veil of ecstasy as one of the trays wobbled. “Don’t disobey me, little one.” The tray canted wildly to one side before being brought under control. Kochran clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Let me see if I can’t bring you in line again.”

  When he spoke, it was as though the spaces between the words carried just as much weight as the actual commands. The deep quality of his voice roused something in Maddy, as though she wanted to be the woman on her knees pleasing her Dom.

  Maddy blinked at the thought. The whole bondage, domination, submission thing wasn’t a foreign concept thanks to her curiosity as a teen and parents who had no idea what she spent hours doing on the computer. But it was the first time she’d ever experienced that kind of reaction. The first display of dominance that made her want to hear the Dom say her name with that sinfully sensual growl.

  The woman on the screen perfectly balanced the trays all the way through her release, even though her legs collapsed. Maddy marveled at the woman’s control. Admired her strength. The woman held the trays in front of her as she struggled to keep them upright.

  The camera zoomed in on the woman as her cries died. The close angle allowed Maddy to see that the woman wore a plain black collar decorated with a simple gold disk adorned with an emblem. Three lions surrounding a shield. The same graphic had appeared in the left-hand corner of the main pages of the website.

  Before the woman had recovered or had the trays fully under her control again, Kochran spoke. “I didn’t give you permission to stop sitting on the vibrator, little subbie.”

  Though the submissive whimpered, she angled herself on the vibrator again.

  This time, instead of approaching her with the handheld whip, he flipped open a button and dropped the zipper on his slacks. Both the crowd around Kochran and the avatars around Maddy murmured with appreciation as he parted his shirt and stripped it away. The clothes had masked a bulk she hadn’t expected. Every inch of him was covered in sculpted muscle, showcasing a strength forged from a man who took pride in his body. But his build wasn’t the only draw for the audience. That penetrating stare of his possessed as much strength as his biceps.

  It also exposed a large tattoo on his left pectoral. The black outline was the same three lions surrounding a shield crest she’d seen earlier. Obviously a brand the owner needed to have on him at all times. She wondered if all the members had the symbol etched on their skin, though she didn’t see any openly displayed. That kind of solidarity wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary for people connected on such an intense level.

  Maddy wanted to go to her knees right there in her house. Her throat went dry as she realized the effect this show was having on her. She needed to stop watching and write the report. Playing voyeur had not been her intent on discovering this new world. The more time she spent on the interface, the chances of getting caught increased exponentially. But Jesus Christ, how could she not watch? He was un-fucking-believable. Everything she’d expected in a fetish club owner.

  Energy thrummed through her fingers as they rested against the keyboard. Despite her vow to stop, she found herself enraptured by what she watched unfolding. The raw power that made her body ache for that kind of connection.

  This wasn’t about the sex. Wasn’t about the people observing. This was pure, unadulterated trust.

  He projected dominance with equal parts protection and confidence. He had an artistic perfection that came through the screen. It should have been impossible, but Maddy sensed the connection between Kochran and his partner. Their chemistry was off-the-charts hot. Though she had no idea if they knew one another, they definitely shared an emotional link Maddy envied. Anticipation, along with a touch of wildness, thrummed through her as she watched the woman swallow Kochran’s cock over and over. She’d never gotten this excited watching a fetish video before. Never experienced such a tremendous amount of intensity flowing from people she didn’t even know.

  That need to belong returned.

  Maddy couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was like to surrender and bring pleasure to a man at the same time. Maybe in her wildest dreams, sure, but this was actually happening right before her eyes. She was so caught up in the scene, she jumped when a man slipped into the vacant seat beside her avatar and began speaking.

  “Hello, gorgeous, I’m Harry.” His deep voice echoed through her living room. No way was anyone’s voice tuned so perfectly that it sounded as though he was deeply aroused. Then again—he totally could be. That video playing was enough to excite even the biggest prude. It had certainly had a profound effect on her.

/>   A quick glance at her sound showed that she’d forgotten to disable the direct voice chat feature when Steve had left. She reached over and adjusted the voice modulation in her profile. “Hi.”

  A feminine voice with a husky, breathy quality echoed through the room. Like she’d been interrupted in a heated moment of fucking. The stranger leaned closer, in a way that made her suddenly feel boxed in and claustrophobic even though he wasn’t truly touching her. His eyes flashed dark, making her even more uncomfortable.

  The reminder that she was in a safe place and not actually in the theater echoed in her head. Just an illusion. Still, as she watched the man’s avatar reach over and stroke the side of her computer-generated face, Maddy shuddered. The slimy sensation along her jaw line wouldn’t fade, her skin tingling despite the fact there had been no physical contact. A warning buzzed that she needed to remove herself from the situation before things took a turn she couldn’t handle.

  “I really need to go.”

  She directed her sim to stand, but the man wrapped his hand around her forearm and pinned it to the chair. Her heart rate sped as she tapped on keys in an effort to get away, but her avatar couldn’t move.

  “You’ll stay right there and take what I have to give you, dirty girl.”

  Maddy slammed her fingers against the keyboard, willing her avatar to respond. She searched her screen for some kind of virtual safe word, but saw nothing that would allow her to forcefully stop the interaction. The guy had a strong grip and the only way she was going to escape was to—

  “Go ahead, struggle. I really like that.”

  His face filled her monitor as his lecherous voice echoed through her room. Though she was a novice, she was savvy enough to know this guy bullied people into submitting to him. While she may not be in the lifestyle, she understood the difference between a predator and a Dominant. And this dude was a first-class asssssss-hole.