Chapter Seventy Two

...

"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to meeeeeee - "

Adam rolled his eyes and flicked the switch on his headphones, Craig's song cutting off as blissful silence filled his ears instead.

Ida didn't have noise-cancelling headphones, though she desperately wanted them. "You're meant to be looking at the directions, Craig," she said, glancing over at him.

Craig pouted and picked up his phone again. "Oh, turn right here. Almost missed it, sorry, Mrs. S."

"Yeah, you would've been. You can't go in the store if we don't get to the store," she muttered.

Craig kept his eyes on the map, glancing up every few seconds to check street signs as they passed. "Oh, here, here. On the left," he said, grinning.

Ida pulled into the parking lot, glancing up at the large sign that said 'the sweet spot' with the 'O' replaced by a cherry. "Now, Honey said she's picking all of you up with Frieda. Are you sure you don't want me to walk you in?" she offered.

"Nah, we'll be all right," Craig said, grinning as he leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Thanks for the lift, Mrs. S. Hey, Adam, we're here," he said, poking his friend's shoulder.

"I know; I can see that for myself," Adam said, tugging his headphones off.

"Oh, that's Frieda now. Good. I'll see you tomorrow for your birthday, okay, dear?" Ida said, turning in her seat to smile at her son.

"Thanks, Ma. I know you and Da have gotta work, so don't stress about it, okay?" Adam said, smiling briefly. It wouldn't be the first time he'd be waking to an empty house on his birthday.

"You're such a good son, Adam. Love you."

"Love you too, Ma. Have a good shift at work," Adam said, pecking a kiss to her cheek before getting out of the car.

Ida waved to Frieda and Layla, then drove out past Nina as she was arriving with Warren.

"I could go in with you, if you're nervous?" Nina offered.

"I'm fine, Mum. Okay, I'm a little nervous, but I'm still fine," Warren added.

"Are you sure? I'll promise to shop in a different part of the store," Nina said.

"Oh, Super Jesus, no. I don't want to be thinking about that."

"You don't want to think about masturbation while in a sex store?"

"I don't want to think about my mother masturbating, eww."

Nina laughed at Warren's horrified expression. "All right, I think that's enough embarrassment to last you the rest of the day, what about you?"

"It's enough for the rest of the month. You know Frieda's going to say something as well, so that counts too."

"Aw, poor cutie-pie."

"Nope. I'm leaving. Love you, bye," Warren said, getting out of the car and closing the door on Nina's laughter.

"Hi, Warren. Excited?" Layla asked, brightly.

Warren shook his head and pulled her in for a warm hug, trying to forget his conversation with his mother. Frieda smiled and waved to Nina as she left.

"Could you stop looking so perky about this? It's a little creepy, Lay," Adam said, frowning.

"Dude, I'd be jumping up and down in excitement if I could. Perky's nothing," Craig pointed out.

"Yeah, I've seen you do that jumping thing when you were trying to imitate Penny. It was bad," Adan said, shaking his head.

Zach and Ethan arrived next, Richard waving out to Frieda and the others before driving off.

"Why do you have a folder, Ethan?" Frieda asked curiously.

"Zach and I have some questions for Darla and I didn't want to forget them. I also went on the shop's website last night to compare some items that I'm curious about, so I want to make sure I'm comparing the same products as the ones I saw online."

"That's very efficient of you. Darla's willing to answer any and all questions; believe me, it's nothing she's never heard before. Just don't flirt with her, it's unseemly and I've promised her a well-behaved group of teenagers," Frieda warned.

"Oh my god, that's Grant's car!" Craig said, his voice close to a squeal. "Dude, hold me," he said, grabbing Zach's arm.

Zach laughed and hugged him. "Better?"

"Yeah, a little. Grant and Jewel are buying me a birthday present today."

"Lucky you."

Grant and Jewel greeted everyone, then tugged Craig close to kiss and hug him in turn. By the time they were finished, Wendy and Donny had arrived.

"Can you all keep it down? Geez," Donny groaned, wrinkling his nose at them all. "Really, Ethan?" he added when he saw the folder.

"I wanted to come prepared," he replied, holding the folder close to his chest.

"That's what she said," Craig said, Zach snickering into his fist to muffle the noise.

"I'll wait in the car," Donny said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, no, you don't," Wendy said, taking his hand and tugging him close to kiss and distract him. "I'll keep you safe," she said with a smile.

Donny breathed deeply, a light blush on his cheeks as he registered his girlfriend's thoughts, and he licked his lips. "All right. But I already hate the rest of you so much."

"I'm not thinking about sex," Adam volunteered.

"I am," Frieda said, laughing when more than one of them winced. "Ah, there's Darla. How are you, dear?"

"Running on about an hour of sleep. The show went late and one of the girls lost her wig over a stolen makeup brush that had actually fallen on the floor," Darla replied, rolling her eyes.

Wendy's jaw dropped at the drag queen that was walking up the path to open the shop. "Oh my... I love your eyebrows!"

"Thank you, sweetheart, that's kind of you," Darla replied with a smile. "Now, don't you worry about anyone bothering you today; you've got the whole shop to yourselves. I'm all ears, so ask me anything. After I have my coffee," she added when Ethan opened his mouth.

Frieda laughed. "Oh, don't look so worried. I've seen Darla down a large espresso in under a minute."

"The stage waits for no one, even if they've just paid eight dollars for an espresso," Darla said over her shoulder, unlocking the door and opening it wide. "Welcome to the Sweet Spot," she said with a wink.

"Thank you!" Craig said, heading inside and tugging Grant and Jewel along with him.

As the others entered the shop, Donny hugged Wendy tightly, his eyes squeezed shut and muttering about elephants under his breath.

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" Darla asked, concerned about Donny's pale expression.

"He's a telepath," Wendy explained, rubbing gentle circles on Donny's back.

"Ah," Darla winced. "I've just run out of repressing cuffs, I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"You sell them?" Donny asked, exhaling slowly as he unwound himself from Wendy.

"I only order them on special request. The cuffs can be unlocked, of course, not like the prison ones," Darla reassured him. "Some supers need to... not be super to have super sex," she said, grinning.

Donny considered that and nodded. "I might have to get one, just in case we come back here again."

Wendy grabbed his hand and squeezed gently. "Stay close, I'll think louder than all of them," she said with a smile.

Darla ushered them inside and closed and locked the door to ensure that no one would come in while Frieda and her numerous children were there.

"I took the liberty of making your coffee, Darla dear," Frieda said, smiling up at her. "Zach's distracting Ethan for the moment, but you'll have them coming back with questions sooner rather than later. Craig, Grant, and Jewel, they're the dears I told you about. Warren and my daughter Layla; don't worry about his stern expression, he's just shy. Donny and Wendy, well, it would probably be better if they had a cuff. The poor dear is probably going to have an awful time with all of his friends' thoughts," she mused, frowning.

"So, you must be Adam," Darla said to Adam as she sipped her coffee.

Adam was already on his laptop and frowned from the screen up at Darla. "Your security cameras aren't very secure."

"What do you mean? They're the best on the market."

Adam snorted. "Yeah, no," he said as he turned his laptop around to show her the security feed he'd already accessed. "It took me four full minutes, which is two minutes longer than most camera feeds, so they're probably more secure than some cameras, but not by much," Adam said, shrugging.

"Ooh, that bastard. Wait 'til I get my hands on his throat. No, wait, he'll like that. Ugh," Darla muttered, trying to think of a solution as she drank her coffee.

"I can make them secure, for a price," Adam said.

"How much?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A hundred. It adds an extra layer of security, so even if someone accesses the camera feeds directly, they won't be able to see what's on the screen. I can also clear up the picture; they're really fuzzy," Adam said, frowning at the images of his friends. "Oh, god. I just learned more than I ever wanted to know," he said with a wince.

Darla considered the amount she knew others would charge, then nodded. "I can do a hundred. How long will it take to fix?"

"Twenty minutes. That includes testing," Adam said.

"Great, go ahead then. Or would you prefer to come back another time when your friends aren't in here?" Darla offered.

"Then it would be strangers and that's somehow worse," he said, wrinkling his nose. "I'll do it now; someone's already accessed the feed in the past week."

"What?"

"I've already stopped them from accessing it again," Adam reassured her.

"Make it a hundred and fifty if you find out who accessed it," Darla said, incensed that someone would jeopardise her clients' safety and privacy.

"Sure," Adam said, reaching up to put his headphones on.

"Oh, before you start, sweetheart. There's some books behind the counter for you," she said, going around to the staff side of the counter to grab a selection of books.

Adam tilted his head to read the titles about asexuality. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, sweetheart."

"Uh, excuse me, Miss Darla? Have you finished your coffee yet?" Ethan asked hesitantly.

Darla swallowed the last of her coffee in a large gulp and set the mug aside. "Done. What would you like to ask, sweetheart?" she asked, smiling.

Ethan grinned and opened his folder.

Adam flicked the noise-cancelling switch and started to work on Darla's security system.

Grant grinned as Craig's blush deepened with every outfit they looked at. He wondered what Craig would look like in the French maid's outfit, but they still hadn't reached it yet, Craig deliberating over the nurse's outfit and the retro stewardess.

"Okay, I can't take this anymore. Get the maid's outfit, for Super Jesus' sake!" Donny snapped from the next aisle.

"Sorry," Jewel and Grant called out at the same time, Craig turning bright red.

"There's a fitting room; let's give Donny some peace, shall we?" Grant offered, taking several sizes off the rack and kissing Craig before leading him to the fitting rooms at the back of the store.

"You want one of these, Wendy?" Jewel asked, grinning.

Donny sighed. "Pass the stewardess one, please."

"Size fourteen, thanks, Jewel," Wendy said.

"No problem," Jewel said, grinning as she grabbed the right size and passed it over the shelving to Donny and Wendy. "Have fun," she called, heading after her boyfriends.

The only reason Donny didn't try to leave the shop again was because Wendy was looking at the lingerie and imagining herself in every piece. It was just distracting enough to not hear the thoughts of their friends.

"What do you think about leather?" Wendy asked, her thoughts making Donny's jaw drop.

"We can do that," he said, nodding firmly.

Once Darla had opened the doors, Warren grabbed Layla's hand and guided her as far away from their friends as possible. He didn't care where they ended up so long as it didn't involve Frieda calling him cutie or seeing the others for the next hour.

"Hmm, I didn't know you were interested in floggers," Layla said curiously, smiling.

"What? Oh. I just didn't want to be around the others," Warren admitted.

Layla's smile slipped. "Are you all right, Warren?"

He sighed and pulled her close to kiss firmly. "I'm nervous."

"Okay. Do you want to go somewhere else? Frieda can drop us off at the movies or something, if you'd prefer?" she asked.

Warren shook his head. "No, I'm okay. Just... We could've come here together, alone," he said.

"We could have, but that would mean normal opening hours and strangers in here with us. We're with friends and they won't judge us for anything we look at or buy, just like we won't judge them, okay?" Layla murmured, kissing him again and feeling his shoulders ease under her hands.

Warren didn't really like being in the store with friends, but the idea of being in there with strangers was even worse. He kissed Layla once more and hugged her firmly. "All right, hippie. What do you want to look at first?" Warren asked.

Layla smiled. "Well, since we're here, how do you feel about floggers?"

"I'll try anything once, hippie."

Layla's smile turned wicked and her eyes flashed green. "Anything?"

"Anything you want, hippie," Warren promised.

Layla laughed and kissed him. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

"We'll come back to the floggers; I saw some strap-ons before," Layla said, taking Warren's hand and leading him down the aisle.

The mental image that followed Layla's words made Warren's cheeks burn red.

Zach was looking at the ropes with a frown, wondering if the colours meant anything or were just meant to be pretty. The orange one was nice and he thought Ethan would look good in it, but he didn't want to hurt Ethan, and some ropes were designed to hurt.

Ethan returned down the aisle, his questions answered and the folder sitting at the front desk so he could collect it before leaving without needing to carry it around. "Anything caught your interest?" Ethan asked, smiling.

"Do the colours mean anything?" Zach asked.

"Not that I've read about. What colour?" Ethan asked, looking at the various ropes hanging in figure-eight loops from the racking.

"Orange. You... You look good in orange," Zach said with a shy smile.

Ethan kissed him gently. "You'd look good in it too. Let's try it out, okay?"

Zach nodded, glowing softly. He grabbed the orange rope and put it in his basket. "Oh, I found this. What do you think?" Zach asked, holding out a ball gag.

"I don't think I'd be able to do that. Or is it for you?" Ethan asked.

"For me. It might shut me up," Zach said with a grin.

"I like your noises. But if you want to try it out, we can," he said.

"I wouldn't mind something, but I'm not sure about this one now."

"How about we start with something small? I saw a silk sash, that's enough to let you breathe and muffle your noise," Ethan suggested.

Zach nodded and replaced the gag on the shelf. "Oh, did you see the paddles? They're in the next row."

"No, I haven't seen them. Show me?" Ethan asked, taking Zach's hand and grabbing a silk sash as they continued through the shop.

"Hey," Zach said to Layla and Warren as they walked into the same aisle.

"Hi, Zach. Where'd you get the basket?" Layla asked.

"They're at the front near the door," he said.

"Thanks. We might need one sooner rather than later," Layla said with a smile, guiding Warren out to the front.

Zach stopped at the paddles. "I thought this one would be good," he said, indicating to one.

"It's not."

"What the hell, Adam? I thought you were turning the speakers off?" Zach hissed at his phone.

"I turned the recording off; I don't want a record of this. But yeah, dude, that paddle's got really bad reviews online. Breaks easily, which I'm assuming you don't want. The one down and to the left is better for beginners."

"Thanks, Adam," Ethan said, grabbing the suggested one.

Frieda checked her phone as it chimed loudly, then looked over to the door where Honey was waiting. "I'm just letting Honey in, Darla," she called over her shoulder to where Darla was checking the camera feeds and upgraded security.

"Lock the door behind you, sweetheart," Darla replied.

Frieda let her daughter in with a smile, locking the door behind her. "Hello, dear. You're late, is everything okay?"

"Zona's interview ran late. She had a diva fit live on air and destroyed a microphone. It's coming out of her cheque," Honey said sourly. "I'll be right back," she said, kissing her mother's cheek before heading down one of the aisles.

"Hi, Honey. Are you okay?" Wendy asked.

"This first, then explanations," Honey said, pulling a white cuff out of her bag and handing it to Donny. She rummaged for a moment longer to produce a key and passed it to Wendy.

"Oh, thank fuck. I could kiss you, but you're late," Donny muttered, slipping the cuff on. His shoulders lost their tension as the cuff clicked into place.

"Zona's interview went over time because she turned up drunk and had a diva fit during a live interview. It's the third microphone she's destroyed in three months, so I'm taking the repair fees out of her cheque."

"If she's such a pain in the ass, why are you interviewing her so much?"

"Contractual obligation. Plus, she's actually interesting when sober. Drunk Zona just swears unintelligibly and gets paranoid about people talking about her, then trashes the room. A few times, she was so drunk she didn't even notice I'd left her in a room by herself. I found her talking to a lily flower once."

"She sounds like an idiot."

"She's honestly smarter than her diva persona indicates. So, she's the reason I'm late, or else you would have had the cuff before Darla opened the doors," Honey said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, thanks for bringing it now, Honey," Wendy said with a smile.

"Thank you," Donny said distractedly, thinking about Honey's words.

"No problem. Have fun," Honey said, heading back to her mother.

"Feeling better, Donny?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, much better. But now I can't hear your thoughts," he admitted with a frown.

Wendy grinned. "Then I'll just have to tell you every thought I have," she said, moving to whisper in his ear, her hand curled in his hair.

"Y-yeah. That works," Donny said, dazed.

Wendy kissed him and grabbed another outfit to try on.

"That outfit shrinks after one wash," Adam's voice came from her phone.

"Oh. Thanks, Adam. What about this one?" Wendy asked, putting it back and grabbing another one.

"It's fine if you follow the instructions on the label," he replied.

"Why are you telling us this?" Donny asked, frowning.

"Because I don't want to have to hear you complaining about paddles breaking or outfits shrinking. This is bad enough; you're totally ruining my search history," Adam muttered.

Jewel adjusted her shirt as she walked out of the fitting room, her lipstick smeared. Grant came out next, adjusting his pants briefly and wiping lipstick off his lips. Half a minute later, Craig came out of the fitting room, his cheeks red and lipstick marks trailing down his neck.

"All right, I'll wear it on our first Skype date," Craig said, licking his lips and running a hand through his curls.

"You need to bring the outfit out of the fitting room if we're going to buy it for you, babe," Jewel reminded him, grinning.

"Oh, yeah," he murmured, going back into the fitting room.

"Hmm, maybe I should help him," Grant murmured, draping himself around Jewel, his arms wrapping around her stomach.

"No. You're staying here with me and then we're all going to look at vibrators."

Grant laughed and pressed a lipstick kiss to her pale neck. "You're just doing that to see Craig blush, aren't you?"

"That's the second reason. The first involves orgasms," Jewel replied with a smirk.

"We can find one of those couples vibrators, you know, the one where we can change the settings with an app?"

"App ones don't connect great, apparently. Jeez, this review is seriously in-depth. I'm actually scared, so you can read that yourself," Adam said, Jewel's phone chiming with a message a second later.

"Uh. Thanks?" Jewel said.

"Donny, you need bleach my brain," Adam called.

Donny laughed, the noise muffled against Wendy's mouth. "Coming."

"I don't want to know that!"

"Darla, can I ask you about... uh," Craig stopped, flushed red, and glanced over to Adam.

"I'm putting my headphones on, dude," Adam said, turning on the noise-cancelling function and returning his attention to his laptop.

"Go ahead, sweetheart," Darla said with an encouraging smile.

"Uh, well, do you have anything about threesomes?" Craig asked.

"Plenty. Books, videos, toys? All of the above?"

Craig blinked. "I don't know. Grant and Jewel, they know more than I do. I mean, I've got a PornHub account, but porn's not real, y'know? I just... don't know what to do?"

"Well, sweetheart, that's why I'm here. And you knowing that porn isn't real is better than most of my clients," Darla said, rolling her eyes. "Now, let's go look at a few books, and then I'll see if I can find a good video or three for you, okay?"

"Okay, thanks," Craig said, sighing in relief.

Darla smiled and walked around the counter to lead Craig down an aisle.

"Did you find anything fun?" Layla asked Ethan and Zach, smiling.

"Heaps. Darla answered all of our questions, so we're gonna try something new," Zach added, grinning. "How about you?"

"A few things. I'm still deliberating between the lube and condoms though. The flavoured ones just seem tacky, but ribbed for her pleasure seems like a gimmick," Layla said, wrinkling her nose.

"Whatever you do, don't get the ones that have the numbing agent on them," Ethan said, shuddering. "The same goes for anal lube, if you're ever going to do that. It can cause damage to the anus' internal walls and then it can get infected and... just don't Google Image it."

"The thick water lube is best," Zach added, not saying a thing when Warren grabbed a package out of Layla's basket and headed back down the aisle. "Also, Eth, you said anus and I didn't laugh."

"I'll reward you later," Ethan said, kissing his cheek.

Layla was curious, but not willing to ask. Warren returned with a different lube, putting it in the basket.

"Oh, hey," Jewel said, seeing them as she turned the corner. "Have you seen the sex swings? Darla said they're down this aisle," she asked.

Grant was behind her, carrying three outfits, a bullet vibrator, and an anal plug.

"Halfway down the aisle. The padded one is better, comes with all of the necessary tools and attachments, and there's an extra hand strap, apparently," Warren said.

"You decided not to buy one?" Jewel asked curiously, not seeing it in Layla's basket.

"I have vines," Layla said with a shrug.

"Yeah, but they have thorns," Zach said, frowning.

"Zach," Ethan said in a warning tone.

"Right, shutting up."

Grant grinned and followed Jewel down the aisle.

"I want to have another look at the designs in that rope book," Ethan said.

"This is the third time you're looking at it, so that means we're buying it," Zach replied as he and Ethan left the aisle.

"I need to not know half of the things I just found out about, hippie," Warren said, wincing.

Layla kissed him firmly. "You've done really well, Warren."

Warren sighed against her lips.

"Come on, I'm curious about those outfits."

"For you or me?" Warren asked as they headed to the other end of the shop.

"I don't know yet," Layla replied, grinning as she took his hand.

Warren stopped short, Layla looking to him in confusion. Seeing his curious expression, Layla followed his gaze, grinning when she saw the black and red corset hanging up. Moving so she was closer to Warren, Layla kissed his cheek to draw his attention to her. "For you or me?" she asked.

"You. Please," Warren asked breathlessly.

On her wrist, Layla could feel Warren's arousal building up, obviously imagining her in the corset. "Do you want the riding crop too?"

Warren shook his head. "Just you in that."

"We can go shopping online for underwear together. Maybe some thigh high stockings," Layla suggested.

Beside her, Warren burst into flames. Hurrying to put them out at Darla's surprised yell, Warren called out an apology.

"Well, forty minutes is a lot longer than I expected. I thought someone would power up within ten minutes," Frieda said, grinning.

"Uh, hi, Frieda," Warren said, his cheeks burning red.

"Hello, dear. Now, I've asked Darla to put everything on my gold member card, so you can all get the Sweet Discount," Frieda said.

"That's nice, thank you, Frieda."

"You're doing this just so you can say 'gold member' again, aren't you?" Warren asked, sighing.

"Of course, dear. It's no fun if I don't get to tease someone. Now, since Darla's finished with Craig, I need to talk to her about my next order," Frieda said, heading back to the front desk.

"Come on, hippie. There's a fitting room at the back," Warren said, seeing the sign down the aisle.

"Hmm, medium or large? Ooh, there's a green one too. I'll try one of each," Layla decided.

Warren grabbed the corsets from the rack and headed to the back of the store. Behind him, Layla looked at a few more corsets, smiling slowly at the sight of another one and taking it off the rack before following after Warren.

"What's that, hippie?" Warren asked when he saw another corset in the basket, hanging Layla's two corsets on the hook.

"Your corset. If you want to, of course. Just because you said anything, you don't have to do everything, okay?" Layla added, setting the basket down before rising on her toes to kiss him.

Warren wrapped his arms around her and kissed her firmly, feeling relief unfurl in his chest. He knew that Layla wouldn't make him do anything he was uncomfortable with, but for the most part, he'd meant his words. They pulled away a moment later, Layla's eyes glazed and her breath short. Warren pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. "I'll try it on, hippie."

"Okay. Stay in here, I want to watch," Layla said, smiling as she sat down on the fitting room's seat.

"Can we change at the same time?"

Layla nodded and stood up again, pulling her shirt up and over her head. Unclipping the first corset, she read the instructions hanging from the side, turning the corset around and loosening the laces carefully.

Warren looked at his corset, then over at Layla's. Hers seemed to clip closed at the front, while his zipped on the side. Shrugging off his jacket, Warren pulled off his shirt and hung both on a hook. A soft noise behind him had Warren turning around, feeling a pulse of desire from Layla. "You've seen me take my shirt off before, hippie," he said in confusion.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate you now, does it?" she asked with a smile, her expression slipping to one of concentration as she started to fasten the corset together.

Grabbing his corset, Warren unzipped it on the side, slid it over his head and tugged it into place before zipping it up again. Moving over to the mirror, Warren shifted in the corset, trying to get comfortable. The maroon leather curved below his pecs to nestle between them, the material pointing up to his chin. The hem of the corset was arched in a similar way, but pointing downwards instead.

"What do you think?" Layla asked behind him, kissing his shoulder blade.

"I don't hate it or love it," Warren said, unsure how to describe his reaction to the corset. "How's yours?" he asked, turning around to face Layla.

She'd chosen the red and black corset, was all Warren could think, his mind completely blank of any other response, his jaw dropping.

"You like it?" Layla asked with a grin. Her hands slipped down her sides to rest on her hips, framing her body and accentuating the corset resting between her breasts, her red hair flowing over her shoulders.

"Fuck."

"I'll take that as a yes?" Layla teased, closing his mouth by pressing her fingertips against his chin.

"Fuck, yes." Warren surged up against her, kissing her heatedly.

Layla kissed him in return, her fingers slipping along his pecs to tweak his nipples.

Okay, he liked the corset.

Warren grabbed Layla's hips, pulling her against him, his tongue delving between her lips and revelling in the soft noises she made in response.

"Warren, wait. Stop, please," Layla said, pulling away.

Warren stepped back immediately, his eyes burning blue as his chest heaved in his corset.

"We can't have sex in here," she said, indicating to the sign stating 'do not have sex in here!'.

Warren licked his lips and nodded reluctantly. "If that sign wasn't here?"

Layla grinned and kissed his mouth. "I don't really want my first time in a sex store, no matter how sexy you look."

Warren nodded, kissing her a few times. "Do you like the corset? Is it comfortable?" he asked, realising he hadn't actually asked Layla yet.

"It's a little more restricting than I'd like, but I don't think I'd be wearing it for a whole day. I might try the green in the next size up," Layla decided. "Is yours growing on you?"

"I think so. I'll keep it on while you're changing and see how I feel after a few more minutes."

"Okay. Can you help untie me?" Layla asked, turning and moving her hair aside.

Warren kissed her shoulder, then unlaced the corset carefully. Layla let out a soft groan of relief as she unclasped it at the front.

"Give it a few minutes, hippie. That one left some marks on you," Warren murmured, frowning as he stroked the red marks on her ribs gently.

"I think I tied it too tight," Layla admitted, inhaling and exhaling deeply now that she could.

Warren's hand splayed across his skin, stroking under her bra. "You looked amazing, but we don't need it right now, hippie. If you're comfortable and want one, we can buy it another time," he added.

"The website does offer discreet packaging," Layla mused. "It's on the business cards at the front," she added at his curious look.

"Let me know if you go shopping? I'd like to look with you," Warren said with a warm grin.

"All right, kids. Time for Darla's story time; make your way to the front!" Darla said over the PA.

"Story time?" Layla echoed, looking to Warren in confusion.

He shrugged. "Mum did say that Frieda proposed this as educational; I'm guessing this is the educational part."

"Take the corset off," Layla prompted when Warren went to grab his shirt.

"Right. Thanks."

They were dressed again in a moment, and on their way to the front of the store, Layla replaced the tight corset, keeping the larger size in case she had a chance to try it on later. She noticed that Warren kept his corset in hand and smiled.

"What does story time involve?" Ethan asked curiously, sitting next to Zach.

"Sexual health and education," Darla replied. "Trust me, I went to a public school and Sky High, and neither of them explained what sex in real life is actually like. It's messy and sweaty, and if you do it right, it can be damn good fun, too."

"You went to Sky High?" Zach asked.

Darla nodded, coughed slightly, and responded in his male voice. "Daryl; you may know me as the Director."

"You directed Oklahoma! The Commander is still upset he wasn't cast as the lead for that play," Layla said.

Darla rolled her eyes. "Well, I chose the lead with both talent and looks, and I stand by that decision, sweetheart."

"Oh, I've heard him sing; I don't blame you at all," Layla said, grinning as the others laughed.

"Go on, Darla, dear," Frieda prompted once the laughter had settled down.

Darla nodded and began talking.

...

End of the seventy-second chapter

Warren's corset based on Pinterest pin 308355905710164536