1. Shelby

SHELBY

SHE GOT A SECRET LITTLE DIRTY MIND …

I pulled into Raven's driveway, excited as hell to see her. It had been far too long. I grabbed my overnight bag, made my way to the front door, and knocked.

"Shelby, come on in. Raven is just putting Amelia down for her nap," Seb greeted.

I came in and gave him a quick hug, followed by Chase who had joined us in the foyer.

"We're so glad you could come," Chase smiled. "Would you like a drink?"

"I would love a glass of water, please."

"Sure thing. Go on through to the living room, we'll just be a second."

I went into the living room and dropped into a chair, smiling at the baby toys strewn about the floor. Raven had come a long way since college. I was often jealous of the life she had found with Seb and Chase, but always happy for her. Chase handed me the glass of water and I set it down just in time for Raven to come flying into the room.

"Shelby," she squealed, running toward me.

I stood just in time for her to connect and wrap me in a huge hug. I grew a little teary-eyed as I hugged one of my closest friends.

"Raven, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. I hate that you live so far away!"

"Well, that's part of the reason I wanted to see you today."

"No…" she started hopefully.

"Yes!" I grinned. "I'm moving to the city. I'll be here the beginning of next month."

"That's amazing! You and I are going to have so much fun. It will be nice for Amelia to have her Auntie Shelby close by."

"I'm excited that I'll be able to see her grow up. I feel like I've missed so much already."

"She's young yet. She's not really doing anything that's all that much fun."

"I bet that's not true at all but thanks for trying," I laughed.

"Anytime," she chuckled. "So, if you're moving to town, you definitely need to check out Club Inhibition ."

"Oooh I've wanted to check it out for ages!"

"Great, there's an open house tomorrow night."

"That's great, Raven, but I don't have anything to wear to a club!"

"Not a problem, I have plenty you can choose from."

"Sounds good, I'd love to come."

"Perfect, we can go together. It'll be so much fun! I'll introduce you to the girls."

"I've heard so much about them, I feel like I already know them."

"They've heard plenty about you too. You'll fit in perfectly."

"We shall see. Are you back to work yet?"

"I started back last week. The guys are trading time off for now so we don't have to put her into daycare. We want to do that when she's a year old."

"That sounds like a great plan. How are you doing being away from her?"

"I have mixed feelings, to be honest. I miss her… but I don't," she laughed.

"Babies are a lot, I get it. Are you liking your job still?"

"I'm the boss, what's not to like?"

"That's true," I chuckled. "People would never guess that you're a sub."

"No, they sure wouldn't. I can't wait for you to see the club."

"Why don't you take her over now?" Chase suggested as he walked into the room. "It's not open yet so it'll be easy to give the tour."

"That's a fantastic idea! Shelby, you in?"

"Sure, why not?"

We piled into Raven's car as she chattered excitedly about the club. The way she was always carrying on, it must be amazing. When we got there, she let us in the side door and led me up a set of stairs.

"I figured we'd start up here and work our way down."

"Fine with me. You're the boss," I teased.

She rolled her eyes but laughed.

"This corner is made up of the owners' and managers' offices. If you decide to become a member… which you totally should… you'll have your interview up here. I'm sure you'll find yourself up here with us too.

"We have rooms up here that members can book for an hour at a time. The club is huge, so you'll see there are ten rooms down either side and ten across the back."

"Holy shit, Raven. This is something else."

"You haven't seen the rest of it yet. Just wait. This center part holds equipment that is open to anyone to use. We also do all of our demos and information sessions up here. We do demos once a week on a variety of subjects. There are some more popular than others. One of our riggers does a demo once a month. Impact play is done once a week."

"Do Seb and Chase choose all of the topics?"

"Nope. They don't run the club like that. The website has a members' portal where you can choose demos you'd like to see or you can use the suggestion box in there. Shall we go downstairs?"

"Definitely."

Raven led me downstairs and my jaw dropped. Eyes wide, I tried to take it in. There was a huge dance floor at the front of the club. It neared the width of the club and it went back about a third of the way. The bar was behind it and almost as big. I could only imagine how busy it must get in here. There were tables and chairs to the side and back of the bar.

"These rooms along the back are the managers' private rooms. We each have our own that no one else uses. Here is the pièce de résistance."

"Fuck me," I breathed when I saw it.

She was right. This topped everything else in this club and any other I'd been to. There were picture windows from the back of the club all the way to the dance floor. Each room had different equipment in it.

"Raven, this is… I don't even know. Can anyone use them?"

"Yes, they can be signed up for in slots of forty-five minutes. Having said that, from time to time, equipment will be added that requires you to take part in the information session and watch the demo."

"Like?"

"Well, right now, it's the revolving bondage wheel."

"Oh my God. I've heard those are fucking epic."

"It is," she grinned. "One of the other managers, Cam, and his sub, Heidi, do the demo for that. The crowds watching these windows get pretty huge."

"I can imagine. Fuck, Raven. I want to come here. I need to be a member."

"Let's get you through the open house, shall we? If you feel the same, I'll get you started on the process."

"Fine," I grumbled.

"It's the difference of a day, Shelby. You'll survive."

"I hope so."

I winked at her and looked around again. This club was unlike anything I'd ever seen. I couldn't wait to see it in action. We headed back to her house and I spent the evening visiting with her and the guys.

The next day was a very long one, waiting eagerly to go back to the club. I was so excited to see what it was like busy. Raven had warned me that they were filled to capacity most nights but especially on open house nights. That just meant there would be lots for me to look at. We went to the same door as we had the day before but today, there was a hot as fuck bouncer standing there. Well over 6' tall, dark hair, and a neatly trimmed beard had me fucking swooning .

"Thomas, this is my friend, Shelby. Shelby, this is our head bouncer, Thomas."

"It's wonderful to meet you," I gushed, cheeks pinking.

"It's nice to meet you too," he answered. "Have a great night, ladies."

"Shelby! You were totally eye-fucking him!" Raven laughed.

"I was not!"

"Oh, you most definitely were."

"If I was… and I'm not saying I was… Is he single? Is he in the lifestyle?"

"Whatever. Yes, he's single and he's one of our Doms."

"I'll keep that in mind," I winked.

"Come with me. The girls are in Sasha's office. I'll introduce you and then we can explore."

"Perfect."

I followed her to an office upstairs, excited to be meeting such close friends of hers.

"Hey, everyone," she greeted as we walked in. "This is my friend, Shelby."

"It's nice to finally meet you. We were starting to wonder if you actually existed. I'm Sasha."

"Yeah, I gathered by your introduction," I chuckled. "Raven said you were sassy as hell."

"I'm Leah and this is Heidi," Leah offered. "It's great to meet you."

"Great, we've all met," Sasha said. "Let's get this party started!"

"Way to give her time to get to know us, Sash," Raven giggled.

"It's all good. I agree with Sasha, let's go," I said.

We all headed downstairs to the bar and got drinks. The club was absolutely slamming. It was as fucking epic as I'd expected. I didn't need to see more.

"Raven, I want in. Tell me what I need to do."

"I didn't think we'd get through the night. We'll get you all set tomorrow to start the process. The vetting process will be quick for you since you already know all of us. You will still need to do an interview, though."

"Whatever you need. I just know I need to be here."

"I understand. For the time being, let's dance!"

The five of us moved to the dance floor and started dancing together. It was crowded but we managed. I met a dark-haired woman's eyes on the other side and was immediately drawn to her. I didn't care that I was dancing with them or that I was supposed to stay with Raven. I had to meet that woman. By the time I weaved my way to the other side, she was gone.

Damn it.

Once I was a member… and I had no doubt I would be… I was going to find that woman.

I spent the rest of the night dancing and chatting with the girls, already feeling like part of the group.

"Hi, you must be Shelby. I'm Jason and I'll be interviewing you today."

"Hey, Jason. It's nice to meet you. You're Leah's Dom, right?"

"Yup, that's me. I heard you're already like part of the family, so this is really more of a formality."

"Okay, do your worst," I grinned.

"Okay, normally I'd ask how you found the club but I already know that. So, why are you applying now?"

"I'm moving to the city and it just made sense to come here. I'm friends with Raven, Seb, and Chase so why would I go anywhere else?"

"You're right, it seems the most logical decision. How long have you been in the lifestyle?"

"I went to my first club ten years ago when I was nineteen. I never looked back."

"And you identify as?—"

"I'm a switch. It took me a little longer to come to that conclusion but I had some great friends who helped me through the process of getting to know myself."

"I'm glad to hear that. So often people are just kind of left floating with no idea how to make sense of things. What do you hope to gain from a membership here?"

"Well, obviously, I would love to just experience the club. There are so many things to consider here. I'm also not opposed to finding a partner."

"Just out of curiosity, are you hoping to find a Dom or a sub?"

"I'm honestly not sure. Maybe I'll find two people like Raven did," I smiled.

"Maybe so."

He asked some cursory questions and then wrapped up what he called the fastest interview in the history of the club . I had a great feeling about this.