HEAVENLY SINS

AERIN

Street lights fly past us in a blur, music blasts through the speakers, and the laughter is covering the sounds of another champagne bottle being popped open. The bubbly foam rushes over the top and spills down the chilled glass, but it never falls off as Lea licks it all up with the speed of light. With cheers of support, she stops the bubbles from destroying her dress and the limo we’re in. That’s right—a fucking limo.

With the sparkling diamond on her ring finger, Lea raises the bottle, her smile almost brighter than the stone as she looks at each and every one of us. “To having no fucking idea where we’re going or what we’re doing!”

The chorus of cheers and laughter follows as she tips the bottle over her lips, then fills the glasses for the rest of us.

She is glowing through and through, much like the massive rock she’s hauling on her hand. Her long, caramel hair is curled and falling down around her shoulders, contrasting against her pearly white dress that clings to her slightly plump figure. A lent resting over her shoulder and falling down her hip reads “bride to be”, and in classic style, a tiara sits on top of her head, sparkling under the dim lights of the limousine.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be half the fun,” her maid of honor, Maela, grins at her like a Cheshire cat, leaving not only the bride, but everyone else in the party completely at a loss.

A bachelorette party she organized for Lea is a pure mystery. We were told to “slut ourselves up” and make our way to the bride’s. That’s what we did. 8 of us showed up dressed to the nines, and the second we were all there, we were given shots. Tequila burnt through us right before we were dragged outside to a waiting limo, and for the last 30 minutes, we’ve been driven around while drinking in the back. In all honesty, we’ve all given into it long ago. It’s a bachelorette, after all.

My curiosity can’t be helped though, so I keep glancing out the window to give myself some clues, but as the limo comes to a stop, the clues are no longer useful.

“Listen up, ladies,” Maela starts, turning to look at each and every single one of us with a massive smile. “We’re minutes away from the time of our lives. I want each and every one of you to have fun and forget about the rest of the world for a few hours. Deal?”

Another small chorus of cheerful whoos and agreements echoes, and then the door opens from the outside, and one after another, we file out. Squeals and laughter start almost immediately, so I do my best to hurry out and find out where we are.

As the bottom of my gold high heel finally meets the concrete, I straighten up and look ahead, and all the squeals I heard seconds ago make sense.

Only a few feet away, neon lights flash and change colours, the lights bouncing off the ground and the red carpet that leads towards the entrance. The said flashing lights come from a big sign above the door, and it reads: Heavenly sins, and on each side of the sign are neon lights in the shape of a man around a pole in some dancing pose.

Holy shit. She took us to a strip club.

Before I got to process it, I was pushed and dragged along with excitement straight towards the front door, guarded by two mean looking bouncers. We wait patiently as Maela steps up and speaks to the bouncer, who quickly goes through his clipboard and then requests all of our IDs. A few seconds later, the burly men open the door for us, and the thumping bass trickles out, only becoming louder as we finally go inside.

A long, wide hallway we walk through is dark, and the lighting is clearly set to fit the mood of the place with the red carpet, dark walls, and neon purple lights curving above us on the ceiling. The further we move, the louder the music becomes, and so do the cheers echoing from within the place.

The group of girls is all excitement and surprise, but undeniably happy about this. I’m mostly curious. I’ve never been to a strip club, and I have all these thoughts and images in my mind, but whenever a thought of a strip club crosses my mind, it goes straight to women dancing. I never really gave much thought about men’s clubs. But thinking of men or women, it makes no difference once we step outside the hall and into the club itself, and my entire imagination is suddenly overwritten.

“Ho... ly... fuck,” I mutter to myself, gaping as I spin around to take it all in.

The music playing is some sort of a sultry Spanish beat but only with a bit more bass, vibrating through my blood with each note. About a dozen poles are set around the room, and around each of them, a man dances to the music, the light shining directly on him from above. Not a single one of them is naked, though. They all wear at least a scrap of clothing or some sort of costume, but it’s all open and giving a sight to their bodies as they move to the rhythm. I can’t even count all the abs I’m seeing.

My eyes snag on a man dancing in the right corner as he drops down into a full split, women hollering as they throw money at his feet. The man moves quickly, and there is no more split. There are only his hips moving, moving towards the ground in a thrusting motion. The women around him go crazy, and when he shoots them a wink, he all but gets showered in bills. I’d wink for that money, too. You juggle that toned ass, my man. Good for you.

A hand wraps around my wrist and pulls me out of my surge of excitement, making me tear my eyes away from the man. I let myself be led away towards a table set up dab smack in the middle of the way, 8 chairs surrounding it, and all of them facing a stage of sorts. I haven’t even noticed it until now, but then again, kinda hard to with all the writhing bodies around.

Girls shuffle around, and I take my seat at the left corner closer to the stage, taking in everything.

There are no poles or people on the stage, but the small flickers of light around it are a sign that it’s used in some way, and the way we’re set up, I have a feeling I’ll find out soon enough what it is.

My attention was once again taken away, this time by a waiter walking over to us, wearing nothing but black, tailored slacks and an apron, no shirt, and a mask covering the top part of his face. He looks far too seductive and mysterious for a waiter, but the girls seem to love it. They welcome him with every bit of enthusiasm in them, cheering him on as he sets an ice bucket on the table, a champagne bottle cooling inside of it. The man laughs at us, possibly thinking we’re all sorts of crazy, but he’s clearly used to it.

“Good evening, ladies. Looking stunning,” he says, offering a panty-melting smile, a small dimple popping in his right cheek.

“For that compliment alone, you are officially invited to have a glass with us,” Lea smiles up at him.

His eyes dart to her, taking her in from head to toe, and then he places a hand on his heart. “I wish I could, but unfortunately, no drinking while working.”

“But we can serve you just fine,” another voice says, and collectively, we turn to look at the other half-naked man standing with a tray of glasses, dressed the same way as the first waiter.

He is slightly taller and his hair seems darker, although it’s hard to tell with the muted lighting anyway, but his smile is just as gorgeous. Do they only employ models?

I jolted a little as I felt Byeol-a, another girl from the party, lean in to whisper into my ear, “I would have them both serve me.”

I smother a laugh at her innuendo, not even arguing with her logic. I’d say objectification is awful, but being in a strip club gives you no other choice but to ogle. Can’t blame the ovaries for reacting a certain way.

The guys work together to pour our glasses, but once they get to Leah, the second guy takes the glass from her hand and tips her chin up. “Open for me.”

She taps her feet happily on the floor but opens her mouth, and he pours the champagne down her throat, all of us cheering her on.

As she swallowed the liquid, he wiped the remains of it from her lips by swiping over them with his thumb. “That is one lucky man,” he says, gives her a wink, and then they are both gone with a promise to come back soon.

The girls look at each other for a long seconds before they start squealing.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PLACE?!” Lea all but screams.

“Our heaven for the night. Feast your eyes ladies,” Maela giggles happily, and as she does, the lights dim and the music suddenly stops.

The notes fade away, but the voices become louder with the cheers as the stage in front of us slowly comes to life. First, the edges of the podium light up with dark red lights. Then the music comes back, except it’s nothing like the earlier one. It’s the gentle drumming noise, meant to gather everyone’s attention, and it sure works.

As I focus on the stage wondering what’s about to happen, a deep, sultry man’s voice rings through the speakers.

“To all of you beautiful men and women in this place, we present you with our most prized artists. Show them some love. Welcome to the stage, one and only, Hades.”

All the lights dim except for the stage, which is suddenly bathed in lights of red and blue shades, gently shifting as the notes of the song start pouring. I don’t recognize the song, but the notes are already heavy and sultry. Completely lost, I keep looking around the corners and places, searching and trying to see what’s going on, and my curiosity is soon quenched.

A man steps out from behind the stage, and the entire room all but explodes with cheers and applause. But he doesn’t bother stopping. He steps onto the stage and his presence fills the place even though he’s not moving.

The girl next to me, Yuri, starts slapping my arm with utter excitement out of pure reflex, but I can’t even be bothered to turn and look at her. My eyes are on the man a few feet away.

Wearing a three piece suit, he drops himself into a single chair that somehow spawned on the stage, and leans back as if he’s looking back at us. The song suddenly picks up, and he moves.

His hands grab around the edges of the chair he’s sitting on, and he lifts his hips, thrusting them upwards in the slowest, most sexual roll, and the place goes crazy. The bills start flying towards the stage almost instantly as he practically fucks the air, making moves mouthwatering.

His smile is feral, almost hidden by the dark, black hair falling down his eyes. Suddenly, he drops himself off the chair and down to his knees, then slowly tears off his jacket, and a cluster of bills find their way to him again.

Completely in a trance, I watch as he moves to the music, losing his clothes in the way, and when he rips his shirt off, his buttons flying across the room and eliciting deafening screams, I nearly choke.

His body is covered in tattoos from his shoulders to his hips, but I can’t pull them apart in the darkness. What I can pull apart are the carved muscles, especially those washboard abs, shining like they’re oiled up. I can also clearly see the glistening metal poking through his nipples, and fuck, I never thought nipple piercings on a man looked so incredible.

The screaming becomes louder as he slides gracefully off the stage and walks over to our table like a predator, stopping only when he’s reached Lea. He tugs off his tie that was left around his neck, and silently asks for her hands, which she all but thrusts at him.

Finally able to take a closer look, I see the sharp line of his jaw and thin but sensual lips. His eyes are rounded, but there is a glint of clear mischief in them as he ties Lea’s wrist together.

With a satisfied smirk he pulls the tie up and raises her hands, and the place explodes as he steps in, straddling her on her chair and dropping her tied arms around his own neck.

She screams in his face, her eyes wide and her lips parted in shock, but he doesn’t seem to mind. If anything, he seems into it. Grabbing onto the back of her chair, he starts rolling his hips against her, giving her the lap dance that might get us all pregnant just by watching.

What in Magic Mike is happening?!

We all cheer like crazy as he drags her in so they’re plastered together, and with a quick shift, he lifts her up, then twists their places, having her straddle him instead. He manoeuvres her hands down to his waist, and he says something to get that no one can hear, and a moment later, she’s undoing his belt as he watches, licking his lips devilishly.

She squeals over the music then laughs as he stands up and brings her over to the stage, dropping her into the chair he started in. The spotlight is on her as he dances, moving his body to the music in perfect rhythm, all while making it look like sex. With the song reaching the peak, he takes her now untied hands and grips his trousers with them, then yanks on them, ripping them away.

Nothing but tight, black thong is on him-his ass, round and firm, clear to everyone. Lea’s eyes bulge open as she stares at his crotch, and I can’t even lie, I’m curious as to what she sees.

He reaches down and spreads her knees wide open, stepping between them. He then grabs her hair, twists, and pulls her in, rolling his hips almost right against her face, and from the angle, you can clearly see what it’s meant to insinuate.

Guiding her as if she’s actually pleasing him, he moves her head as he thrusts to the beat of the music, and when the climax hits, she’s thrown back against the chair and he straddles her once again, caging her in with his massively muscled body. One look at her face and you know she’s in heaven.

Taking her hands, he leads them to his ass, and squeezes it over her own hands just as the song ends, and the place explodes. They are showered with money and applause, all of us shamelessly screaming, some even begging to be next.

The guy detangles them and carries her back to her chair like a princess, depositing her down with gentleness he didn’t show earlier.

“Thank you, beautiful,” he says, kissing her hand softly as he drops her off.

“No, no. Thank you,” she counters, and the guy smiles wide, his teeth all but digging into his bottom lip.

“Have fun.” He winks at her, and then he’s gone. Walking away, he gives everyone a view of his ass and the massive package poorly hidden with a thong, his feet shuffling through the money on the ground.

Lea is completely stoked, her face flushed, her excitement and shock palpable, and the entire place is jealous of her. “Best. Bachelorette. Ever!” she screams, and the echoes of it travel around the table.

As it turns out, this place really is something like a Magic Mike type of thing. There are performances of people coming out on that stage, some alone, some in small groups, all of them doing crazy things. Not all of them go into the audience, but those that do, they give a hell of a lap dance. Two more of them came to Leah, and Yuri got lucky, too, with a man dressed like a firefighter.

We were two bottles of champagne in when the lights flickered for who knows what time, and this time, the stage lights resembled waves as they moved with the dark, red shade, and the low hum of the notes started.

“Give some love to our diamond of the house, our seduction expert, Eros.”

The beginning notes of Rihanna’s Skin started playing, and a form of a man emerged from the darkness, washed over in red hues.

He walked slowly, almost like he’s teasing us. There was something in his walk, something magnetic, that made me unable to look away. I watched with my breath stuck in my throat as he melted into the waves of the lights, tracing his fingers up and down the buttons of his shirt, tantalisingly slowly.

The white silk was slicked to his torso, his muscles straining under the thin material, begging to be let out. My eyes jumped when chills ran down my spine, and when I looked up, I found his eyes hidden behind a lace mask, looking right at me.

I stopped breathing, watching as he slowly, seductively, glided over the stage almost like he’s floating, and stepped down from it with far more grace than it should be humanly allowed.

Girls hollered and screamed, and the man barely did a thing. My eyes stayed on him, heart hammering as he walked through the small space, the distance between us swallowed with each step he took.

I swallowed down my own heartbeat as he took two more steps, and all I could see was him.

He stopped directly in front of me, and it felt like nothing else existed. Without a single word, the man swallowed the room with his presence, and the screaming and cheering fell deaf on my ears.

A mask I’ve seen from afar is in great detail now that it’s in front of me. I can see the details in the delicate, black lace, and the shade of chocolate hiding underneath it. The bottom corner of the mask sits snugly against the straight bridge of his small nose, and the laces coming from the sides to tie it together disappear under the black strands of his hair. I think he says something, he must have because I saw his lips moving, but I was so focused on the shape of them that I didn’t hear a thing. They are beyond exotic in their fullness, and I can’t even begin to lie to myself about the unholy thoughts that overtook at the sight.

He suddenly moved, and my brain de-fogged just enough for me to catch my breath and watch him walk past me. I was relieved and disappointed, but those feelings lasted barely a moment before I felt a touch of fingertips starting at my elbow and dragging up to my shoulders.

Goosebumps exploded, but before I got to look at him, I felt his breath warming my earlobe. “Would you do me the honour of giving me your name, my stunning goddess?”

His voice is like molten lava, scorching through every nerve in my body with the deep, full notes in his words. It is somehow ocean deep and honey sweet at the same time. It was his words, however, that made me feel like giggling and kicking my feet even though I’m fully aware that this is just his job, but to hell with it. I’m going to enjoy it.

“Aerin,” I somehow found my voice, but it sounded breathy and hitchy.

“Mmmm,” he hums, making a noise of appreciation. “Are you married, Aerin?” he asks, and my name on his lips sounds so much better than it ever did coming from me.

I shake my head because that’s all I can muster.

“Boyfriend? Girlfriend?” he asks while tracing my upper arm, most likely feeling every goosebump under his fingers.

“Neither,” I answer.

“And tell me,” he murmurs, his lips nearly touching my earlobe as his fingers trace over the curve of my shoulder. “Would you let me have my way with you tonight?”

My heart nearly races out of my chest at the sound of his words, and for a moment, I allow myself to bungee jump into the gutter and completely twist the meaning of them. The sinful thoughts bring a small, teasing grin to my face, and I ask a question in return.

“Are you sure you can handle all of me?”

I heard him chuckle, and the sound was so deep and raspy that my stomach flipped.

“I’m about to find out. Hold on tight.”

That’s all the warning I got before I was effortlessly swept off my chair.