'Any idea where he's taking us?'

'C'mon bro, you know we're going to see strippers.'

'Kev, it's Castle, since when is anything in a straight line with him?'

Ryan considered this. 'That's very true You want a drink while we wait for them?'

Esposito shook his head. Since the poker game the night before, he was fairly certain he'd drunk enough liquor to sink a battleship, and had come out the other side of the poker hand four hundred dollars richer. It had been more than winning the money, though, it had been the camaraderie of it all - watching Cam use his actual battle face in order to fake out the rest of them, Gil puffing hard on his Cuban when he was losing his shirt, Ryan drumming his fingers when he thought he had the winning hand.

The following morning had been spent in the casinos, and all had won something, with the highest being Gil who scored almost eight hundred on a roll of the roulette wheel and the lowest being Ryan who took eight dollars in nickles from a slot machine. Still, as Castle had pointed out leaving with more money than you had going in counted for something whether it was eight or eight hundred, as they'd gotten their tickets for the afternoon cabaret at the Tropicana - topless, natch. They'd enjoyed the splendorous and gratuitous shimmying of the show girls on stage in little more than sequins, feathers and headdresses, leaving them to debate just what the difference was between the women who paraded in a chorus line half naked and the women who skinned down in a club to the bump and grind of Motley Crue and the Pussy-Cat Dolls.

He'd broken down and called Meredeth when he'd gotten back to the suite for a quick power-down, cashing in call number two, and had caught her just before she'd left Castle's apartment for her night out; damn time difference was screwing him up. Esposito pressed number one speed dial, felt his nerves unwind a little when he heard Meredeth. 'Hey almost-wife.'

'Hey almost-hubby. You on your way to see girls with daddy issues get naked?'

'Dinner first, then debauchery. Listen, I just wanted to say love you and have fun with your girls tonight, okay?'

'Absolutely, love you too and have fun with Castle's wild night.'

'I gotta run. I'll see you tomorrow.'

'See you soon.'

Esposito had barely hung up before he was all but hot-footed out of the suite by Ryan so as not to be late for dinner at the Caesar's Palace steakhouse, after which they'd enjoyed cognac and cigars by the Bellagio fountain. By nine o'clock, Castle declared phase two of man-weekend underway, telling them to dress comfortably but nicely and be sure to have lots of small bills in their wallets. All the men, despite the fact they were all either married or in serious relationships, knew what this combination meant.

They regrouped in the lobby, feeling a little like the Rat Pack. Castle, dapper as ever in his blue shirt and pants, spread his arms wide like the Godfather waiting for respect as he met them at the front doors of the Venetian. Before they stepped outside, Castle turned to them.

'This place is so exclusive, it isn't even open to the public yet. Because I happen to have certain notoriety, particularly in a town like this, this place is only full of high-rollers. We've got table service so the only cash handed over is to the ladies doing all that hard work to keep us horny perverts entertained. Now, time is of the essence so if you could all board the bus, we'll be on our way.'

The guys looked at each other in confusion until the stepped out to the valet area, where they all dropped their jaws. A sleek and streamlined bus painted bright silver with the words 'Glitterotica' on the side was waiting for them; by the door were two women in small silver skirt and bikini tops, brushes and pots of iridescent paint in their hands.

'Hello, I'm Amber and this is Crystal,' the one on the left said in a purr that had Esposito momentarily aching for Meredeth. 'Which one is the groom?'

'This guy,' Ryan said, gaping a little as he shoved Esposito forward. 'This is the lucky bastard marrying the love of his life.'

'Congratulations.' Amber stepped closer to him, doodled a wedding bell on his cheek in silver paint. 'I'm sure you will be very happy together. I just celebrated my two years with my husband.'

'Congrats back.'

'If you'll board please, we'll finish taking care of your friends and head out.'


Glitterotica did indeed live up to Castle's hype - it was not the sleazy dive seen in Show Girls but a very artistically presented strip club. Along the entrance hallway were windows with moving art of men and women living up to the name, painted in glittering iridescent body paint and erotically posed. As they were escorted to the 'showroom' as it was termed Esposito knew he'd been spoiled for life by Castle's high-dollar style, for the stage was indeed a stage, with three silver poles strategically placed and lit up with black light so the women literally glowed as they stripped down to their glitter-pasties.

The group was shown to their table by Ruby - apparently all the staff minus the stage talent went by jewel names - and served almost instantly with a round of drinks on the house; they took their seats so they had a front row view of all that naked female wonder, as the first whole act they caught were two nubile young things tracing lemon yellow sparkles over each other to the strains of Billy Squire's 'The Stroke'.

Two hours later, as Esposito finished his drink and was pleasantly buzzed, he watched the way the nearly naked stripper gyrated in time to Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' and absently though of how her hip tattoo reminded him of Meredeth's. As much fun as he was having, he hated knowing at the end of the night, he'd be sleeping it off beside his best friend in a five-diamond hotel suite rather than in his own bed with his sexy love goddess. Seeing all that nudity put him in a creative mind of some new tricks to try with Meredeth. Still, he wasn't so far gone that he couldn't see the rather-stunning rack of the woman now down to her clear heels and green g-string.

'Get this boy another drink. He's got that look again.'

Esposito glanced over - beside him sat Castle, comfortably drunk, and Ryan, half-plastered off his ass.

'What look?'

'The missing-Meredeth look.'

'Can't blame him. Girl's a tomcat in the sack. Ain't that right, Javier?'

Esposito fought the urge to tie Ryan's tongue in a knot; whenever he drank two things happened: he turned into a horny adolescent and his mouth ran away from him, and tonight was no exception.

'I'm not telling you about my dirty sex with Meredeth. We didn't do that to you when you got married.'

'That's because there was no bachelor party for Eloper McGee here,' Castle gestured to the waitress and passed her a couple of twenties as she set the tray on the table. 'Dude, it's your bachelor party, no better place for dirty stories,' he pointed out, choosing three shots of tequila off the tray and passing them around. 'Come on, we're your brothers. She into the Kama Sutra or does she like original works?'

'Nah, I bet she likes to play dress-up. Naughty girl in the principal's office is my numero uno guess.'

Castle pursed his lips. 'I could see her digging a little Lady Irina-style action, maybe some light bondage with satin ropes or velvet handcuffs.'

'Actually they're wrapped in silk.' Esposito tossed back his shot, grabbed another off the tray and pounded it back. If he was going to talk about this stuff, he'd damn well need some liquid courage. Because his eyes were squeezed shut at the sting of the alcohol, he missed Ryan and Castle's nearly popping out of their heads.

'You wanna say that again bro?'

'Hey, you told me to share.'

Ryan furrowed his brow. 'Are they yours from work?'

'Silk-wrapped handcuffs,' Castle mused, passing a couple of bills to the dancer who'd finished her routine.

'That's impressive. So, what you hand-cuff her to the headboard or just make sure she can't touch?'

'Other way around, Castle.'

'She had you all trussed up?'

'Then she gave me a coconut oil massage and a blowjob before banging my brains out. One of the best nights I ever had with her.'

Castle let out a low whistle and Ryan applauded drunkenly. 'Was that the night I called and you said you were a little tied up?'

'Yeah.'

'Nice, bro.'

'Any other private details you wanna grease out of me?'

'Yeah, actually, this one's been bugging me.' Ryan leaned forward now, elbows grinding into the atrociously small table. 'That scene in the book where Tonio eats the chocolate off Tabitha's body, did you guys-?'

'Oh yeah, couple of times.'

'See I told you.' Castle hit Ryan in the arm, nearly sent him to the floor. 'Looks like I got you guys the wrong wedding gift. I should have take a trip to Dungeon Alley, done a little shopping there.'


R&R&Enjoy.