The MasqueRave Ch. 01-06

Damn, I just turned down a smokeshow who was my type and who probably would've let me hit it right there and then... I swear to the Greek gods, if I don't score with the brunette in the black and gold mask after running around here like a maniac, I'm gonna drown myself in Jace's pool.

Slinking through the hall of the left wing, I scan the faces of the four girls leaning against the wall who are getting barebacked from behind, hoping that who I'm searching for isn't one of them. Thankfully, none of those brunettes are wearing black and gold masks.

If she's not in the living room or the great room, that means she's either in the bathroom or someone has her in a private room already, I think, stepping back into the foyer and making a sharp left toward the hallway behind the grand staircase that leads to the indoor club.

I've been saving the great room for last because it normally doesn't get busy on the dancefloor until around 9:30 when the molly starts kicking in for everyone. Until that time, most people linger in the other parts of the mansion until whichever famous DJ is working the party officially kicks off the rave. Still, some people like to camp out at the couches along the perimeter since it's not as busy. After popping into the living room and taking a few moments to watch the ten-person orgy happening on the giant sectional by the wall of windows, I head back through the doorway, turn left, and hurry towards the great room.

The hip hop song called 'Throw It Back' by ShantiiP & TarioP is bumping up ahead, and the second I reach the edge of the dance floor, the bass vibrates through my chest, stirring the hype inside me. Neon lights are strobing in slow pulses above the dancefloor, bathing all the nude, half-naked, sweat-glistening dancers ahead in a blue glow for a moment before verdant light throbs, making them look like members of the Green Lantern Corps. Scratch that, not all of them are dancing. There's a girl in the middle of the floor getting dicked-down by a tall black dude with a dope afro. In traditional MasqueRave fashion, people are dancing around them like it's perfectly normal, some of them side-eyeing the sex going on beside them while they bump and grind with their partners.

First dancefloor bang of the night, I think, bobbing my head as I groove my way counterclockwise around the room. My eyes wander over to this one girl with blue hair and a matching mask who's fingering herself and dancing while watching the couple dance-bang. Fuck yeah! I love MasqueRave!

As the neon lights transition from yellow to white right on the beat, I catch a glimpse of her through the dancers ahead. Ms. Innocent in the black and gold mask—the most overdressed girl in the entire mansion—is just slouched against the couch with her arms crossed over her belly, staring at something on the dancefloor with the most anxious expression on her face.

At long last, I think, drinking while hastily weaving through the crowd gathered on the left side of the dancefloor, never taking my eyes off her for a second.

Halfway to her, a girl in red lingerie shoves a pants-less dude with a boner down onto the cushion left of Ms. Innocent, prompting her to look over annoyedly right as the busty blonde is straddling him. Right as the red lingerie girl impales herself on the guy's bare dick, Ms. Innocent scrunches her face and springs up from her seat. Her expression is so dramatic, I can almost hear her go 'Ugh.'

Well, that's my confirmation she's not a skank or a sexually liberal woman like the rest of the girls here.

Just as I get about three feet away from her, she turns back to the dancefloor, scowling with her nose all scrunched up in the cutest way. I can't tell if she's disgusted by what she just watched or if this reaction is from the erotic debauchery that she's now witnessing.

"You look miserable," I say a few decibels below a shout as I come to a stop beside her.

She twirls around and stares at me all wide-eyed and shocked. Then, as if she's relieved to see that it's me and not some other bro, her expression relaxes into a warm smile while something like intrigue flashes in her eyes. "How could you even tell?" she shouts back in this almost singsongy tone that most drunk girls seem to speak in. "My back was just to you!"

I point to the club's entrance. "Saw you from across the room before those two—" I cock a thumb over my shoulder at the couch she just rose from. "—grossed you out and made you get up!"

Looking down and shaking her head, she giggles with her lips pressed together like she's trying to keep me from seeing her smiling. "You're telling me that you spotted me from across the room through all those people in this dim lighting?"

"Yup. Because I've been looking for you since I saw you outside."

"Oh?" Her face lights up. "Why's that, Zorro?"

"It's Carmelo, actually," I say with a smirk. "And I'll tell you if you tell me why you look so unhappy, gorgeous. You know, after you tell me your name."

"I'm Mah-mmmm—" she stops abruptly, pressing her lips together while she hums, then she looks up to the right as if she forgot her MasqueRave alias. "My name's Faye! But I'm okay with gorgeous even though I think you're being incredibly generous to flatter me."

Smirking, I shake my head. "Well, Mah-mmmm Faye, it wasn't an exaggeration."

She smiles, and then her jaw drops as she swats my arm playfully. "Jerk! I'm still getting used to the whole alias thing!"

I wink. "Like I was saying, Faye... I meant it. You're absolutely gorgeous. Now... Please tell me why you look so miserable, and don't you dare say it's because there aren't any guys approaching you! There's no way I'd believe that given what I'm seeing before me." To not come off as sleazy, I hold her gaze instead of looking down and gesturing to her body like I want to.

Smirking, she tilts her head down and then looks away shyly. "No... It's not that. I've had plenty of guys approach me in the last half hour or so," she says, looking up at me with a bashful smirk.

"Were those guys being respectful to you?" I blurt out before she can continue.

She nods eagerly. "Mm-hmm! Very! They didn't even make a fuss when I turned them down. I appreciate you asking me that."

Guess that means Ms. Innocent remains unsullied! Also, note to self: Game of Thrones ended years ago, time to stop saying unsullied...

I nod once. "Glad to hear it! And you're welcome. Gotta make sure my fellow male guests aren't misbehaving and making this an uncomfortable environment for the ladies."

"Wow. You're such a gentleman," she says with a hint of sarcasm, smirking afterward.

"And don't you forget it!" I say with a smirk and a wink. "Now, back to my question... Tell me what's wrong, Faye. Why so miserable?"

"This isn't really my scene..." Faye says through a wince. "I'm not exactly comfy watching people fuck every time I turn my head."

"Ah... So a friend dragged you here I take it?"

She nods, looks towards the dancefloor, and then points at a raven-haired girl who's wearing a black bunny mask—the hottie in strappy lingerie who's in the middle of a sloppy make-out session with and getting fingerbanged by none other than elephant guy. "She ditched me to go make out with him, now she's over there having the time of her life while I'm awkwardly waiting on the sidelines for the night to be over. And—"

"And you're mad she's getting it on with the guy with the impressive elephant trunk who you were checking out earlier!" I say, winking at her. "Got it!"

Faye swats my chest playfully. "No!" She shakes her head, giggling in the cutest way. "I wasn't checking him out earlier! I was laughing at how ridiculous his underwear is! And I couldn't look away because it was like watching a trainwreck!" She swats me again. "Now, can I finish telling you why I'm miserable, or do you wanna interrupt me and tease me again?"

I raise my hands in surrender, chuckling. "No, please continue. I'm done giving you a hard time. For now." Pun intended.

"Thank you," she sasses with an eye-roll, playing at being mad but smiling fiendishly at me. Now she huffs. "What I was going to say was that she made me take molly with her, like, twenty minutes ago so we could roll together while we danced, but now she's gone and forgot all about me like she always does. And I'm sort of freaking out because I'm tipsy as fuck and I've never done molly and I don't know what to expect!" Her words rattle off a mile per minute.

"Damn, you're attending your first orgy on top of doing molly for the first time?" I ask, smirking at her. "Talk about stepping out of your comfort zone."

"Tell me about it... I take it you've done molly before?"

I nod. "Many times. And you've got nothing to worry about, Faye. The ones they give out there are low-dose compared to the ones drug dealers sling. Just sip water throughout the night to stay hydrated, and try not to get too drunk if you plan on drinking more, okay?"

"Now there's advice I never thought a guy at an orgy rave would give me," she says with a smirk.

"I've never been the kind of guy who'd try and get a girl shitfaced so I could hook up with her." I flash her a smug smile.

"Is that why you've been searching for me since you saw me outside? Because you want to hook up with me?"

My smug grin fades into a warm smile. "I've been searching for you and turning down advances for the last thirty minutes because, out of all the hotties I've seen since I got here and all the gorgeous women who I've seen in all my years coming to these MasqueRaves, I've never once laid eyes on anyone who captivated me so completely the way you did, Faye. No one has ever made me stop and stare like I did when I spotted you outside. Not at one of these events, and not in the real world."

She grins. Her brown eyes narrow into a squint and her cheeks redden during the brief flash of fluorescent white light. Then, as the bulbs above transition to neon yellow, her bottom lip curls into her mouth and she bites naughtily down onto it to stifle her smile. "Oh, bullshit, Carmelo!"

I make my face as expressionless as I can. "Seriously. The second I spotted you, it was like seeing someone I knew from a past life or some shit. Felt like you called out to me, so I just had to figure out why you made me feel that way. Tell me you didn't get that same vibe when we locked eyes. And don't lie! I saw you. You were awestruck just like I was. You couldn't look away until your friend hit you to get your attention."

Faye looks down and to the right, and then her eyes snap back up to meet my gaze. "I won't deny that something about you stood out to me too when I saw you earlier—something in your eyes. Something about your smile."

"See! I knew it!"

"Easy there, buddy, that doesn't mean I want you to bang me on the dancefloor or anything."

I smirk. "That's fine by me. I'm cool with going somewhere a little less loud so we can chat."

"So, you're telling me that you're at an orgy rave and you only want to talk to me? You didn't search this whole place for me because you wanna get laid?"

"Oh, no... If I said that, that'd be a lie... I would absolutely love nothing more than to have sex with you at some point if you were down! But given the shy, reserved vibe you've been giving off since I first laid eyes on you, and considering how grossed out you were seeing that couple fucking next to you, and given that your friend more or less forced you to come to this shindig, I figured you aren't here for a night of sexual liberation like the rest of us."

"You figured right!" she says with a devious smile. "Does that mean you wanna cut and run and move on to an easier lay before you waste your night?"

I shake my head. "I still wanna spend time with you this evening even if you're not down for a little fun, and I hope we can at least dance at some point."

"Even if that means wasting time on me when you'll be missing out on getting your orgy on?"

I shrug. "Faye, no time spent with you would be a waste of my night. I've been to several of these things, so I've had my fair share of anonymous fun. Even if I hadn't, I'd give up one night of boning my way through strange if it means spending the evening getting to know as much as I can about the girl who calls out to me like a beacon in the night."

Squinting, she smiles shyly. "How poetic... Are you just saying that because you think that question was a test of character or because you think I'll loosen up when the molly kicks in?"

"I said that because I meant it, Faye," I say, my eyes flicking back and forth between hers in the moments that follow while she intensely searches my eyes the same way. "So, will you do me the honor of letting me spend the evening getting to know you? You know, get to know you in the sense of raw honesty that comes without specific details on account of the whole secret identity thing we've got going on here." I chuckle.

She giggles. "You know what? Sure! You seem cool and interesting and not the least bit sleazy. And I'd rather get stuck with you all night than wind up awkwardly sitting around alone and watching everyone else have sex..."

I pump my fist. "Best news I've heard all week!"

She snickers. "Geez... I legit just told you we can hang out all night and not have sex, and that's the best news you've heard recently? Your week must've sucked!" She smirks.

"Oh, it did suck. But it's all okay. Things started getting better as of about two minutes ago." I hold my hand out to her, palm up. "Come on, let's get you some water and find somewhere to talk where we don't have to keep yelling—somewhere where less people are boning."

Faye beams, holding my gaze as she gives my hand a tight squeeze. "I'd like that very much. Lead the way, Carmelo!"

Holding her hand for dear life like she's a troubled child who's got a habit of running around in traffic, I take her the way I came, weaving through the crowd gathered along the left side of the dancefloor and then escorting her through the hall that leads back to the foyer. At the next intersection, she continues straight but I tug her toward the living room. Both of us look at the couch ahead where a girl with platinum hair and a silver mask is on all fours simultaneously getting railed from behind and violently face-fucked. Then, almost in synchrony, we look at each other, snickering and shaking our heads as I lead her out the backdoor.

"Oh, it feels so good out here now that the sun's down," she says right as we step outside.

"Seriously," I say, inhaling the briny air on the way to the bar. "And I bet you're glad it doesn't smell like sweat and coochie out here."

She giggles innocently. "You must be in my head because I was just about to say something along those lines!"

Aside from the color-changing rope lights adorning the trees surrounding the dancefloor and the blue lights scattered around the bar, the only sources of illumination in the backyard are the neon yellow lights lining the walkways and the dull violet neon tubes underneath the patio furniture.

"How many drinks have you had tonight, Faye?" I ask as we wait for the people in front of us to be serviced.

"Uhhh... Umm... Four or five shots before we got here, then we got one cocktail and took a shot with the group we met at the bar." She squints at me. "Why?"

"Just tryna to figure out how dehydrated you are," I say with a smile, turning to the busty redhead working the bar who's wearing a red neon mask. "Two waters and a Corona, please."

"You got it!" the redhead says to me.

"You gonna double-fist a water and a beer?" Faye says with a smirk. "You're so cool!"

I snicker, taking the ice-cold water bottles from the bartender and handing them to my date. "Nope. Both of those waters are for you, sweetheart."

Faye scrunches her face up. "Oh... Do you not need to hydrate from the molly you took?"

I shake my head while grabbing the Corona from the counter. "Thanks," I say to the bartender. After taking a sip of beer, I turn to Faye who's now guzzling water like she's just been rescued from being lost in the desert for three days. "I didn't take any molly. I usually just stick to alcohol when I attend these MasqueRaves." I place my hand on the small of her back then steer her toward the unoccupied outdoor sectional that's against the railing of the patio's back corner.

"Why's that?" she asks.

"This is probably T.M.I. for you but, if you must know, MDMA makes sex feel amazing, but it also makes it hard for me to finish."

She grins, and her smile transitions into a wince as she raises her eyebrows. "Ah... I see... Definitely a problem at an orgy party."

"Mm-hmm," I hum, taking another swig. "See? That was T.M.I. for Miss Innocent."

"Hey now... Just because orgies and watching people have sex makes me uncomfy, it doesn't mean I'm that innocent, Carmelo..." she says with a fierce look while easing down onto the couch, pressing her thighs together in an act of modesty.

"Is that right?" I say, flopping down right beside her. Now I scoot over until our arms and legs are touching.

"Mm-hmm..." Faye hums, looking up at the speaker above us. "Geez, is there music playing in every corner of this place?"

I nod. "Jace likes to keep music blasting all over for the same reason the lighting is dim everywhere—to keep people who might know each other from potentially recognizing each other."

She nods. "Makes sense... Also, who's Jace?"

I smirk. "The 26-year-old billionaire owner of the mansion and the mastermind behind The MasqueRave! Didn't you read up on him on the website or the app?"

Faye shakes her head. "I legit didn't decide to come to this until this morning, and my best friend handled my ticket and account set up beforehand, so I didn't have time to look into literally anything about this event. Whatever I know is what she told me on the drive here."

"That's wild!"

"Tell me about it!" She takes a quick sip of water and then gazes into my eyes. "So... this Jace guy... You know him?"

I nod. "We went to college together. My frat brother, actually."

"That's cool!" Her gaze wanders to my wrist. "Is that why you have on a silver smart band when everyone else has black ones?"

"Yeah. I have the same level of access as him. This band even gets me into his bedroom."

"Oh wow! What else does it get you?"

"All the weed, drugs, and edibles I want along with free escort service all night," I say with a smirk.

Her eyes go wide. "Wait... for realsies?"

I nod, smiling at how adorable she sounded just now.

"And you're here with me when you could have a bedful of women who'll do whatever you want without hesitation?" She grins.

"Yup. And I wouldn't want to be anywhere else doing anything else with anyone else right now."

She giggles. "You're full of shit!"

"I have not and will not lie to you once tonight. While this mask is on, I have nothing to hide. Aside from my identity and any specific details that may reveal it, that is."

She nods. "Is that so?"

"Yup. I'll tell you what... In the spirit of getting to know each other during MasqueRave, I'll answer anything you want, no matter how intimate of a question it is. The only caveat is that you gotta promise to be equally open with me."

She nods in silence for a few seconds, clearly mulling over her response. "You know what? I'm down! It's not like we'll ever see each other after tonight."