Reform Pt. 02

Cliff and Raina heard a tinkling bell sound from the gate box speaker and saw the wrought iron gate ahead of them begin to swing open. Access granted.

Ahead, they could see rows of lamp posts illuminating the driveway. The lights turned out of view and clearly lined the winding path.

"Are you excited?" Cliff asked as he carefully navigated the car along the well-lit path.

They passed sculptures and landscapes which lay just behind the lamp posts and out of the way of the radiating lights. Raina thought the shadows of the sculptures gave the surroundings a creepy vibe at night, which likely had the opposite appeal during the day. Tall hedges blocked the view of where the driveway ended.

They were in a fairly affluent and tucked away neighborhood which she hadn't even known existed before tonight. Most of the neighboring homes were protected by similar iron and stone enclosures. Clearly people in the area had things worth protecting. Or hiding from view.

"A little. Maybe mostly nervous. How about you?"

Sliding Cliff's hand higher up her thigh, she parted her legs slightly. His fingers were centimeters from the center seam of her shorts, and Raina felt her nervousness shift more toward excitement as his fingers fiddled to find more than fabric under his touch.

"I see you're trying to make me -- Okay we are here..." The sudden view of the large home interrupted him.

At the front entry stood two large pillars, lights glowing from their base. Between the pillars were two men dressed in vests who were standing at a podium and smiling at the approaching car. One man waved and beckoned Cliff to proceed toward them.

"The yard is way bigger than the house," Raina observed quietly. The house was a Mediterranean design and Raina could tell it spread further outward than upward. It was in fact very large, but she had expected a more lavish looking dwelling to match the pretension of the stone sculptures they had passed.

The driver side window descended as the valet reached Cliff's side of the car.

"Good evening," said the young man with a bright smile. Raina noted how young the valet looked up close. He stood around 6 feet tall and Raina could guess he was probably under 25 years old.

He had straight white teeth and his loc'd hair was styled neatly and pulled back away from his fresh, clear face. Raina was surprised at how well maintained he looked. It was a warm Florida evening, and the humidity did not appear to be letting up by the feel of the heat wafting through the open window. But the valet's face didn't reveal a single break of sweat.

"Good evening," Raina responded politely.

"What's going on, man," Cliff said. He leaned his body toward the open window and retrieved his hand back from between Raina's now closed legs.

"Welcome, welcome, my name is Fawn," the valet continued. "I hope you two are having a lovely evening so far. Feel free to place the car in park, and leave the keys in the ignition or in the cup holder if it's a push start. I have a ticket for you and will get the car parked safely around the side of the house." He gestured to the left where the driveway continued past the front entrance to a lot where Raina could see half a dozen other cars parked.

"If you need to get to your car later on, I'd be happy to bring it back up for you. Right now, you can take any belongings you would like to accompany you inside. You'll find somewhere to secure them with my colleague at our stand. I'll give you a moment or two and you can just walk up when you're ready."

It seemed clear that he was working from a script, but Raina thought Fawn sounded naturally professional and innocent.

Fawn walked away from the car then and Cliff turned to look at Raina. His face was beaming.

"Okay, Fawn..." Raina said quietly.

"That's probably his code name," Cliff responded, still smiling.

Raina nodded and said, "Mmm."

She had forgotten about the code names they were instructed to choose as per the invitation.

Masks are not required, but will be available upon requests. The invitation had said. However, you must select and register a pseudonym with your RSVP. Throughout the evening's festivities you will only be referred to as your chosen pseudonym. Name plates will be printed and available for retrieval at the foyer.

Cliff and Raina each opened their car doors and headed toward the valet stand.

"Good evening," said the second valet. He appeared slightly older than Fawn, but Raina knew she and Cliff were older than both of the young men.

"My name is Kit," the second valet said. "If you're ready, I can show you inside to get your name plate and mask, if you choose to wear one."

Kit politely made eye contact with both Cliff and Raina as he spoke, but Raina thought she noticed his gaze linger on her as he mentioned the mask.

Kit was handsome in a different way to Fawn. Although he looked obviously young in age, he lacked the seemingly innocence and natural hospitality. Something in Kit's eyes gave away the experience he likely had as a good looking and well built dark skinned man.

His lips were full and appeared moisturized. A well-groomed goatee enclosed the pinkish lips and he licked them right as they became the focus of Raina's inspecting gaze. Her eyes shot up to meet his and he stared back for a moment - though his expression remained pleasant, professional.

In the corner of her eye, Raina monitored Cliff's demeanor in case he had noticed the exchange but he didn't seem to. Perhaps it was all in her head, and there was no exchange at all, Raina thought.

Cliff took the ticket stub from Fawn and slipped it into his pants pocket.

"Enjoy your night," Fawn said with a wave before sliding into the driver seat and proceeding to drive the car toward the lot.

They followed Kit up the steps and he opened the front door and stood aside to let them both in.

The foyer was a large, immaculate space with a deep, rich aroma welcoming them inside. The ceiling was over 30 feet high and wooden beams lining the walls were decorated with string lights.

The foyer felt like a room itself. To one side there was a tall cabinet which was ajar exposing rows of pairs of shoes. On the other side was a tall circular table covered with a black cloth. Raina craned to see what was on top of the table as some colors were refracting light from one end, but she felt a gentle touch to her arm and turned to see Kit smiling politely at her. He removed his hand quickly and gestured to the cabinet.

"So now," He said, "you can leave your shoes here and slip into something more comfortable." He moved to the cabinet, opening both doors completely to reveal rows of plush black slippers opposite the shoes.

Raina and Cliff obliged and selected a spot on the bottom row to place their shoes together. They both turned to Kit, who nodded and headed to the circular table.

Raina could now see the source of the refracted light. There were jeweled masks lined and layered on the left side of the table. The masks were identical in style but varied in color. Some masks were all one color, though a myriad of shades and different shapes and sizes of jewel bedazzled them. Other masks were multi-colored and some seemed to have a theme of two or three colors - like red and blue or pink, green, and yellow.

On the end of the masks were satin ties collected in a loose pile.

At the center of the table were two rows of gift bags. It was clear that several bags had already been removed and Raina noted that each bag had a bracelet with a nameplate linked to the handles. She stepped further to get a closer look.

"You can find your name on the bracelet and take your bag," Kit instructed.

Both Raina and Cliff leaned forward and scanned the bags for their chosen names.

Wolf. Raina saw her name and grabbed the accompanying bag.

"Eagle," Raina heard Cliff read aloud. He grabbed his bag and began shuffling through the contents.

Raina hadn't looked inside her bag yet. She was aware that Kit was still standing there, waiting on them and she turned back to face him - awaiting further instruction.

"Oh wow,"Cliff said. "This stuff looks pretty cool. This will definitely be a nice quality experience."

Raina turn to him for a second to nod and smile. When she turned back to Kit, he had moved closer to her. His face was inches from hers and his arm was reaching around her - an embrace?

"Would you like a mask?" He asked as his eyes fell to her lips.

Raina felt the cool mint of his breath brush her cheeks and her face grew warm. Her eyes felt impossible to keep open and her mouth felt like a desert now.

She silently hoped he couldn't smell the weed on her and that her eyes didn't appear as bloodshot and dim as they felt. All she could do was nod. Kit mimicked her nod, pulling his hand back from behind her. He was holding a mask covered in gold jewels - she hadn't noticed it among the others earlier.

"May I help you put it on...Wolf?" He asked. Raina hadn't seen him glance at her bracelet, but he must have done as he already knew her name.

Before she could answer, Kit stepped around her and lowered the golden mask over her eyes and she felt him tie the satin cords against the back of her head.

"Thank you," she said softly. She turned to Cliff who had secured his own mask. She wanted to avoid further eye contact with Kit. He was making her nervous and she didn't want to lose the whit she had gained in the car with Cliff.

As though picking up on her apprehension, Kit indicated that the next step was to enter the house and join the other guests. Suddenly distant laughter and chatter was floating into the entry space, and Raina wondered how she hadn't heard it before.

She thanked Kit once more and followed Cliff toward the growing sounds ahead.

As they walked through the hallway, Raina put her best effort into walking 'normally'. She thought she could feel Kit's eyes burning into her back, and her legs felt like they would rather collapse under the weight of his gaze, than carry her gracefully toward the night's main event.

She walked shoulder to shoulder alongside Cliff, her arm gently brushing his and she used him as a guide to coast her way to meet the evening's other attendees.

"Looks like there was a little something going on between you two," Cliff said softly.

Raina shot a look at him and he had a coy smile on his face. Her face cracked a wide grin she leaned into him, grabbing his arm and reaching to pinch his side.

"You don't fucking miss anything!" She exclaimed.

Cliff laughed and leaned back into Raina to steady the two of them.

"No, he didn't try to hide it. I could tell he was sending you those vibes, and it looked like you liked it too, huh?" He continued softly.

Before Raina could answer, the hallway opened into a room three times the size of the foyer. Her breath caught in her chest as she scanned the room and soaked in the interior landscape.

Black and brown nearly bare bodies decorated the room and the atmosphere was heavy with sex.

All of the occupants were lounging in the center of the room in armchairs, chaises, ottomans, and two plush sofas. Each one of them was wearing a mask.

The decor consisted of mismatched furniture, but Raina noted that it did not look tacky. She suspected that the home's original decor had been removed and locked away to save it from enduring any abuse or saturation from whatever would take place among these freaks.

"Hey!!! Fresh meat!" A deep voice called loudly as Raina and Cliff approached the group. Raina peered in the direction she thought the voice came from, but couldn't tell who had said it.

Laughter erupted evenly throughout the group and a female voice said, "Okay..so you're just gonna say that every time someone walks in?"

Raina caught this speaker. It was a dark-skinned woman who was laying in a chaise with a super tall caramel complexion man wrapped in her thick legs.

The woman's breasts were uncovered and one fell gently toward her armpit while the other sat plumb at the center of her chest. Her nipples were fully erect. The fallen breast was being coaxed and pinched by the hand of the caramel man.

He was wearing a red tangled cloth around his hips, and Raina wondered if some of the night's events had begun without them. The cloth appeared to be in disarray and though his dick was hidden by the fabric and lace of the cloth, his testicles peeked out from beneath and was lightly swaying as his legs bounced restlessly. Above his waist, the topless woman's feet were hooked at the ankle.

"Ignore him... Welcome to the party," the woman continued. "What are y'alls names?"

"I'm Rai--well...Wolf...I guess," Raina stammered.

"I'm Eagle," said Cliff.

The woman introduced herself as Raven and her counterpart was Emu.

Raina greeted Raven and Emu and scanned the faces of the other freaks in the room.

Sitting stacked in the next armchair over, were two men who were wearing matching mesh tops and very tiny shorts.

"This is Cobra and I'm Gekko," one of them introduced.

Gekko wore glasses and had a muscular build. His skin was medium brown and tattoos covered his shoulders and arms.

Cobra nodded a hello and glanced over at Cliff - scanning top to bottom and back up to catch his gaze. Though he sat on the bottom of the short stack, Raina could make out his short and stocky build. He was also medium brown and looked something like a Carlton-type. Even with his risque ensemble, his posture and expression gave away that he spent a lot of his day time hours practicing a lot more decorum and restraint.

Cliff shifted in place, and Raina fought the urge to look at him. No doubt he had caught Cobra's once-over and Raina knew he was not up for any "sword fighting" tonight - that's how Cliff had put it when Raina inquired about his openness to experiment with other men.

Feeling Cliff's uneasiness gave Raina a small jolt of confidence and she casually tightened her grip on his arm. Pulling him closer to her.

Entwined on the sofa were 4 people and Raina could not tell if they were a quintuplet or two sets of couples or what.

The older gentleman among them appeared to note her confusion and gave a wide smile and long swinging arm, waving to introduce his companions.

"I'm Bear," Bear said. He was a tall, burly man. Raina thought he resembled Djimon Hounso around the face - the complexion and smile certainly matched. His was the deep voice from earlier and his head was lying in the lap of an older woman. "This is my wife, Otter," his outstretched arm lowered and gave Otter a gentle pat on the head. Flattening the top of her chestnut colored afro.

Otter shook her head and swatted his hand away. "I can introduce myself, thank you," She said sassily. She did not reintroduce herself, but gave Raina a wink. Otter's celebrity look alike would definitely be Wanda Sykes.

On the other end of the sofa were a younger couple who mirrored Bear and Otter. One's head lay in the other's lap.

"We're Panda and Dragon," said the male of the pair. The woman giggled and clarified.

"He's Panda, and I'm Dragon. We're married." They were both light-skinned with shoulder length locs and could easily be mistaken for siblings...were it not for Dragon replacing her long, resting breast into Panda's mouth as he turned his head back toward her. Panda moaned and suckled slowly and rhythmically.

Raina felt her nipples shift beneath her blouse.

She could now see the distinction between the two couples on the couch. Initially it had seemed as though they were all physically connected. In reality, Panda and Bear were laying on opposite ends and though their legs stretched out toward each other, they didn't seem to be engaging directly.

Otter watched the younger couple intently. Bear had one hand inside the fabric around his waist, though there was no sign of self-stimulation.

At the center of the seating area was a large coffee table which stood between the first couch and a second on which two other women sat.

Two dark-skinned women had to turn to greet the new arrivals.

"Swan," said one.

"Owl," said the other.

Swan had long locs like Raina, but the ends of her hair were bleached light brown while Raina had colored her ends blue specifically for this very occasion.

Owl's hair was long and straight. Raina couldn't tell whether it was growing from her head or a well installed wig, but the edges were laid smooth and flat.

There didn't appear to be anything sexual between the two and Raina smiled at the platonic energy they were giving off.

Not only was it a nice balance to the erotics blasting from the other side of the coffee table, but it brought to mind a conversation Raina had with her best friend when she had told her about tonight's plans.

"Why can't I come?" Deshida had whined.

"It's invite only," Raina insisted. "Plus I'm not going to be the one bringing sand to the beach. I don't think it would be fair to bring someone I wouldn't be caught dead fucking."

"Bitch." Deshi grumbled. "Just admit that you've been trying and failing for decades and don't want me emasculating you in front of these people."

Swan leaned closer to Owl and whispered something then doubled over to stifle a cackle brought on by her own joke. Owl smiled politely and gently tapped Swan on the knee.

The space on the other end of the couch was vacant and Cliff gestured for Raina to sit down just as the same thought occurred to her. Cliff took the seat next to Owl and Raina sat on the end.

"Are y'all married...dating?" asked Raven.

Raina shook her head and Cliff responded. "No...we're not really together like that. This is my homegirl." His hand had found its way onto Raina's left thigh when they sat down, and she felt him give her a squeeze as he spoke.

"This is just something we wanted to try together." Cliff finished.

"Well it seems like a little more than homeboy - homegirl to me," Bear said. He lifted his head from Otter's lap and sat up facing them.

"Let me tell you something, young man. And I say young because I just turned 58 myself and so I have that experience," he chuckled. "If you find a woman who is a comfort..she's somebody you can talk to about anything. She don't judge you and y'all can live the lifestyle you both enjoy, that's the one you make your wife. Anybody else will just waste your time. And it's like J Cole said: I love it when you give me head, I hate it when you give me headaches."

His laughter boomed loudly at the last line and he turned to Otter as if to confirm she'd heard him. She had and she smiled humorously, but Raina figured it wasn't the first time Otter had heard that line.

"Who said I'm giving him head?" Raina replied. She felt a squeeze on her thigh.

"Well, I guess I'm an ass, because I'm assuming based on body language." Bear's tone was mildly apologetic, but he wasn't backing down. "Y'all seem to have a connection, right?"

He turned to Otter again. She nodded.

"Well, who said either of us wants to get married?" Raina pressed.

Bear shook his head. "Okay, never mind.. Ha ha.. This one." His elbow nudged Otter jokingly and he continued laughing.

"Well, have you ever been with a man my age?" Bear leaned back on the couch and adjusted the cloth around his waist, unleashing one of the thickest dicks Raina had ever seen.

"Wow," she was stunned.

"Hey man..." Cliff started.

"Hey man," Bear replied. "Y'all said you aren't together. Isn't this what we came here for?"

Otter pulled the cloth back over her husband's anaconda and glared at him. "You need to slow down on the liquor," she scolded quietly.

"You two can get changed if you like," she said to Cliff and Raina, pointing toward the stairs in the hallway. "The bedrooms are upstairs. The open doors are the rooms we can use tonight. And there are drinks in the kitchen if you want to catch up to this fool."