My palm rested on her cheek. “Nyx, haven’t you figured it out yet? I’ll follow you anywhere you want to lead me.”
We stood like that for a minute, me giving her the time to process and hoping that I hadn’t crossed a line. When she took my hand from her cheek, my heart about stopped, but then she kissed it, and I could breathe again.
“Let’s go.”
We didn’t really talk on the way over, but she kept her hand in mine, which I took to mean that she was simply quiet and thinking, not reconsidering taking me to a place that meant so much to her. It wasn’t until we were on our way to the door that she spoke.
“I’m still not used to going in through the front door. Even when I visited on my off days before, I used the employee entrance.” She smiled at the large man standing next to the door. “Good to see you, Gil.”
“You too, Nyx.”
And then we were going through the door, into a small entryway where she handed off her jacket to a young woman and greeted her by name, though I didn’t catch what it was. My attention was on the couple in front of us who’d just opened the door, giving me my first glimpse of the club’s interior.
“You just need to sign this form, and then we can go in,” Nyx said, drawing my attention. “Guests have to sign it when they come in with a member.”
“So they know who to yell at if someone gets out of hand?” I was only half-serious. I skimmed the form, not wanting to sign something without at least a glance at it. I didn’t read it completely, though. I trusted her to know that it was okay for me to sign.
“Something like that.” She smiled at me and handed the form back to the brunette who’d taken the jackets. Then she held out a black and gold pin. “Guests wear these too, so members know not to have any expectations of knowledge of either the rules or the lifestyle.”
“That sounds like it came from a rule book.”
She laughed. “Even security knows all the rules and the reasons for them. Right, Adalynn?”
“First thing you do in job training,” Adalynn agreed. “Gotta know the rules before you can enforce them.”
“Makes sense.” I held out a hand to her. “Bradyn Traylor. Pleased to meet you.”
Adalynn shook my hand and gave me an appraising look. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
“Savannah.” I gave her a charming – but not too charming – smile.
She raised an eyebrow and looked at Nyx. “Damn. You got yourself a genuine Rhett Butler here.”
Nyx wrinkled her nose. “I hate Gone with the Wind. Never did see the attraction to Rhett Butler either.”
“I know, I know, you’ve always been a Cary Grant fan.”
“That’s true.” Nyx winked at me. “But I’m starting to see the appeal of a southern gentleman.”
Adalynn laughed and then turned from us to the pair who’d come in behind us. “Have fun,” she called over her shoulder.
Nyx held out her hand to me, and I took it, threading my fingers between hers. “We will.”
I followed her into the club and was immediately struck by the difference between it and Hades, the S&M club back home. For one thing, it was lighter. Not bright, exactly, but more like Hades had been…dingy. I’d never noticed it before, and I doubted I would’ve seen it at all if I didn’t have this to compare it to now. Hades wasn’t a dump, but I could see why Club Privé was considered the best BDSM club on this side of the country.
It was…magnificent, for lack of a better word.
The décor alone was enough to tell me that the members were more in my parents’ tax bracket than they were mine. If they’d charged only a reasonable fee, it wouldn’t be enough to pay for all of this, even if they packed it in every night. I assumed this was about average for a Friday night, which meant they did good business.
Not surprising when I looked around. They’d done a great job with the design since it didn’t feel as crowded as it was, a feat in and of itself. I had no doubt the rest of the place was equally as impressive.
“The first time I walked in here, I was completely overwhelmed,” Nyx said as the two of us made our way over to the bar. “I had no idea what this place was