STORY EXCERPT

Valentin Polyakov noticed the door painted a glossy black. A small oval panel displayed a single red rose dripping tears of blood. He was examining this when the door opened and a large blond man emerged. Valentin stared at him. He looks every inch a Viking, just like the ones I’ve seen in books. He has the moustache and beard, with long, blond hair flowing over his shoulders. He’s not wearing Viking clothes, but that’s all.

“Can I help you?” the Viking asked in a low but carrying voice. There was amusement in his eyes, and the wide mouth smiled.

“Er… I was just looking at the red rose on your door,” Valentin said with some embarrassment, having been caught staring at the man for so long.

“It’s the emblem of The Blood Red Rose Club, a BDSM club,” the Viking explained.

“Oh. Ah, yes I’ve heard of that. Whips and chains.”

The Viking threw back his head and guffawed with laughter. “Something like that, yes.”

“I’m Valkyrie, the owner of this club,” he said, holding out his hand. Valentin shook it, and then he bowed very correctly.

“Valentin Polyakov, at your service. I’m very pleased to meet you.”

“To judge by your accent, you’re a long way from home,” Valkyrie suggested, “What brings you to Carlisle?”

“I’m a tourist, travelling the UK to learn about your history.”

Valkyrie didn’t comment, but he raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“I’m Russian and I want to learn about British culture,” he added.

“So you came to Carlisle?”

“Yes. Hadrian’s Wall is on my list of things to see.”

“An excellent choice. May I suggest you first visit Tullie House Museum. You will understand a lot more about what you see on Hadrian’s Wall if you do.” He fished in his pocket and handed Valentin a card after scribbling something on it. “If you want to learn a bit more about BDSM, then come to the club tonight. This is a free pass. Now I have to leave you, as I have an appointment in the town. I hope to see you tonight. Present this card and ask for me in reception. I’ll show you around,” he said.

Valentin thanked him and watched the retreating form as Valkyrie strode purposefully away. Valentin stared at the business card in his hand, and then he tucked it away in his wallet. He continued on his way to Tullie House, where he’d been headed when he was distracted by that intriguing door.

Handsome, clever, and quite well-off, Valentin Polyakov had been born into a middle-class family in a leafy suburb of Moscow, where he’d led a rather privileged life. He’d discovered early on that he had a talent for languages and an endless curiosity about his world and his fellow man. Via the Internet, he’d roamed the world and its cultures. Virtual visits to all the great museums and art galleries in the West had given him an appetite to visit them in person. On his twenty-fifth birthday his parents had given in to his repeated requests, and had paid for an air ticket.

I’ll begin on the very edge of the continent. The group of islands called Great Britain is most intriguing. How did such a small country manage to forge an empire covering so much of the globe?

After a few weeks in London, where he’d visited art galleries and museums and the public libraries, he’d seen a poster advertising "Carlisle the Great Border City," so he’d bought a train ticket and set off on his travels. He’d arrived in the city and taken a room in a hotel on the main street. He’d been too impatient to unpack and had gone out at once and visited the castle. He’d crossed the Millennium Bridge and had been heading for Tullie House Museum when he’d seen the door.

He continued on his way to Tullie house, and, after he’d spent an hour in the Roman exhibit in the basement, Valentin was hooked. Valkyrie had been right. His coming visit to Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum would be enhanced by what he’d just learned. There were many other exhibits he wanted to visit, but for today he’d had enough. He wanted time to think about all he’d seen. He had tea and cakes in the café attached to the museum.Well, I wonder what I’m going to do for the rest of the evening. What about that business card? He took the card out of his wallet and read the message that Valkyrie had written on it. Then he smiled and returned to his hotel. After a power-nap he got up, showered, and dressed. The latter gave him pause for thought. What is the correct dress for an evening in a BDSM club? I haven’t the faintest idea. Google may help. Unfortunately, he didn’t possess any leather trousers. He decided the nearest thing he had was black slacks, which he teamed with a white silk shirt. If I can’t blend in, then I shall stand out.

He arrived at the club at what he considered to be an early hour, but there were already several cars parked in front of it. He knew enough about cars to realise that they were all expensive models. That’s a good sign. He opened the door and walked in. He wasn’t prepared for the décor.

The heavy scent of roses assailed his nostrils. He loved roses. His own favourites were yellow ones, but these red ones in the arrangements in the alcoves were long-stemmed beauties. He walked over to reception and greeted the woman behind the desk, who smiled a welcome at him. She wasn’t as tall as him, and she was in her late thirties, if he was any judge. She was a great choice for the receptionist of a BDSM club. This striking woman had no tattoos or piercings, but she had a pleasant face with a creamy complexion. Her grey eyes sparkled with life and something akin to mischief. Her full-lipped mouth was discreetly painted. She was stunningly dressed. She wore no leather, but she looked elegant in a black corset, trimmed with emerald, and a skirt of some filmy material that flirted about her legs as she moved. Her body, though no longer in the first flush of youth, seemed firm and her full, heavy breasts were well displayed in the form-fitting corset. Her waist was well defined and the brooch, in the form of a red rose, pinned to her corset over her left breast, sparkled in the lights.

“Hello. My name is Valentin Polyakov. I was given this card by Valkyrie.” As he spoke he handed her the square of pasteboard. She took the card from his hand and turned it over in her long, elegant fingers with their well-kept nails painted a metallic blue-green. She read what Valkyrie had written. When she spoke her voice was pleasant and well-modulated, with just a trace of the local Cumbrian accent.

“Welcome to The Blood Red Rose Club,” she said with a smile. “My name is Olivia Dalguise. Have you any particular interests, or would you like a general tour of the club?” Valentin found himself responding well to this pleasant lady. She may have been only a receptionist, working in a BDSM club, but she radiated self-confidence.

“I just wish to see what goes on in a BDSM club. This is my first visit.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“Do you know why we are doing this? Remind me again,” he said.

“I disobeyed your instructions and put myself at risk, Master. Please, I won’t do it again.” The sub struggled in her bonds.

“This isn’t the first, nor yet the second time this has happened. Both previous times you promised to do better, and so I was lenient. That was a mistake. I have no intention of making the same mistake this time. You won’t come until I allow you to. I’m going to put this double dildo into your luscious pussy and rear hole. Then I am going to put you in the cage for half an hour. At the end of that time, if you haven’t come, I’ll let you out. Don’t allow it to fall out, or there will be consequences.” He inserted the double dildo, and tried out the various settings. She writhed and moaned as the instrument vibrated. The Dom seemed pleased with the results, and he released her from the bench, pointed to the floor, and marched off to the cage. Obediently, she crawled on all fours after him, and just before she got into the cage, her Dom handcuffed her hands behind her back, and then he closed the door and consulted his watch. He seated himself in a comfortable chair and began to play with the controls. Valentin watched as he varied the speed of the vibrations, bringing her almost to orgasm a few times, but on each occasion he stopped just short. He seemed to be able to judge when she was on the edge. The first couple of occasions she swore at him, by the third time she was pleading, and by the fifth she was begging to come. He was deaf to all her pleas.

“You will obey me. I won’t tolerate your putting yourself at risk. This little session is just a reminder of that and also of what’s in store for you if you ever do it again,” he said.

“Please, Master, oh please. I’m so very sorry and I promise I won’t do it again. Please let me come,” she pleaded.

“Very well, your time is up.” He stood up, turned off the controls, and released her from the cage and her handcuffs. He took her in his arms and kissed her. She nestled into him, and he sat down in the chair once more. He cuddled her close as he kissed her long and deeply. At the same time he used the controls of the dildo to make her come. He drank her cries as she squirmed and her limbs thrashed in a prolonged orgasm. Once the after-shocks had finished and she lay quiescent in his arms he gently removed the dildo and placed it in the receptacle, ready for cleaning Valentin supposed. Then this Dom, too, wrapped his sub in a blanket, sending another sub for water as he smoothed her hair and rained small kisses down on her closed eyelids.

“Well, have you seen enough here?” Lucifer asked. Valentin looked about him. A sub encased from head to foot in a shiny latex, form-fitting suit with only holes for nose and mouth, lay curled up in one of the cages.

“I think that’s a step too far,” Valentin said, indicating the sub. “I can do without the more extreme practices, thank you.”

“In that case we shall return to the main room. The scenes are less intense and may be more to your taste,” Lucifer said. When they reached the main club room again he added, "This is the main area. There are themed rooms upstairs for those who like to play in private, and the stage, over there, is for demonstrations so the audience can see what’s going on. Most people just get together to do their scene, using the equipment over by the walls and if anyone watches, that’s fine. There are a couple of rooms with observation windows. Would you like to see one of them?”

Valentin’s besetting sin was curiosity, so he nodded. Lucifer led him over to a window and Valentin looked in. On a platform bed covered with a fitted scarlet satin sheet, a woman lay naked and restrained. Her hands were cuffed to the bed-head, and her feet were wide apart. A mechanical arm with a dildo on the end of it was positioned at her pussy entrance. Her Dom was a tall, slim, elegant man in a black shirt and form-fitting jodhpurs, which left nothing to the imagination and displayed his erect cock. He walked to the head of the bed and pressed a switch on the remote control. The mechanical arm began to fuck her, penetrating her deeply and then withdrawing. He began slowly and watched her carefully, but soon increased the speed of the arm. The woman gazed at him, panting and anxious. As he fiddled with the controls the speed varied. He brought her to the edge of an orgasm, and then he stopped and removed the contraption. He kept her restrained, placed himself on his knees between her legs, and then he bent to lick her folds. His tongue flicked over her labia and into the creases between her thighs. She wriggled, trying to get him where she wanted him, but he chuckled and pressed her down into the mattress.

“Patience, love, it will be worth it, I promise,” he said in a deep, rich voice. Valentin watched in fascination as the Dom ramped up her arousal, until finally he bit down on her clit and she screamed, thrashed, and struggled against her bonds. When she was still, he freed his huge, thick cock from his jodhpurs, placed a couple of pillows under her hips, and sighed in satisfaction as he thrust into her. She responded with pants and little moaning cries of pleasure. He hammered into her until, with another prolonged scream of ecstasy, she came and he roared as his own release took him.

“Is that more to your taste? Remember, though, that all the scenes have been discussed and agreed. Subs have their safe words and can use them. ‘Safe, sane, and consensual’ is a concept that’s taken very seriously here.”

“It’s fascinating. Thank you, Lucifer,” Valentin said.

“Come and have a drink at the bar and meet some of the members,” Lucifer suggested.

“I’d like that.” I'd love to see more of that delectable woman from reception.