Everything was metal, but painted black. There were posts of it everywhere other than the dance floor, which was set down lower than where tables were. There were some tables tucked behind heavy curtains that you could see had lights behind them. There were two spiral staircases in both back corners that went upstairs to something – I don't know what, but there were people going up and down them. It looked somewhat similar to an old Asian home, where there were walkways to rooms around the outside and in the inside was a garden – except here it was an all-out touching dance fest.

The one really cool thing I noticed was that the ceiling above the dance floor looked like the sky – there was a lit-up moon hanging down and stars set to twinkle. Of the whole room, that was the only light constantly visible.

Men and women were hanging in the air in cages around the dance floor – all completely nude and covered in some sort of glowing liquid that looked drizzled onto them. The color was all that normal glowing green everyone knew from glowsticks as a kid. Their eyes were the same color too, and had slits like cats as well.

Everyone had glowing contacts – no two were always the same. The colors could be, but the pupil was a different shape. Most of everyone else's were one color, whereas Tony's, and more than likely mine, were fading red to gold. I had a feeling that everyone knew exactly who he was because of it.

And I was right.

A woman that was completely nude and also covered in that glowing liquid walked over to Tony and myself with a tray and held it out to us. On top were two flutes of what I guessed to be champagne, but the liquid was a glowing white color. Tony had no problem reaching out and grabbing them both before handing one to me with a grin. I could tell he was grinning because his teeth were glowing.

My head was already pounding from the music, and I knew alcohol wasn't going to make it any better – but he clinked his glass against mine and drained it in one head tilt. After a moment of decision, I did the same. I had a feeling I would be regretting that later.

Tony handed the glasses back to the waitress who bowed and walked off. I couldn't not stare – her breasts were covered in the stuff like –

I turned to Tony who had a hand held out to me to take me out to the floor. What else were we here to do? I was a little worried to get into the mix since it seemed so packed, but that's what we came for. I took his hand softly, and he gently closed his fingers over mine and walked down the stairs into the fray.

I forgot what it was like to be in a pit of human sweat and arousal. Since most of these people were half naked anyway, just getting a little close to them got sweat all over me. Tony tried to keep us from getting too entangled, but there was only so much he could do before we were surrounded by grinding men and women and were moving with the crowd. Tony's hands on my hips and my arms up around his neck just felt right. It felt good to let go for once, knowing no one cared if we were ass to crotch and he had his tongue in my ear. Occasionally I caught glimpses of people's faces that I thought I knew – actors, models, directors – all either topless, or down to their underwear completely. I could tell this was a high-end club, and everyone needed to let go every once and a while, but I didn't realize what kind of company we were keeping.

After a good 15 minutes of unapologetic grinding, I tugged Tony out and away to a standing table to get something to cool myself. I may have been wearing a small dress, but I was sweating terribly from being around so many warm bodies – and I know my body was getting the better of me. I knew Tony's had as well – I had a certain tell-tale sign 10 minutes ago.

Another waitress came and we yelled our orders into her ear. Or really, I told her what I wanted. Tony didn't even have to tell her. To my knowledge, he hadn't been here in months. How would she know his order?

He leaned into me and pulled me tight against him, his face burying in my hair. He had that specific smell of musk, sweat, and just overall Tony. It was intoxicating. I could've stayed with him like that all night – just fallen asleep against him and stayed that way forever.

"Do you want to upstairs?" It was like a whisper, but he had to yell it near my ear. With all the bass and the pounding noise around, the idea of getting away sounded nice. But what was upstairs?

I nodded my head against his cheek so he could tell, and he pulled away to look at me. It was so hard to look at him with those eyes. He looked like a wild animal with his trademark smirk and those eyes. But something about them did draw me nearer.

He wrangled a waitress to whisper something to her, then slid a hand to my lower back and led me over to one of the staircases. Up we went on the spiral until finally we disappeared into the ceiling, all the time Tony with his hand on me. I guess he didn't want me to fall in these heels between the slats.

Upstairs was the same darkness as down. There was no one around, just a number of doors. I knew I had seen people come up here…had they all gone inside?

Tony nudged me forward and we wandered down the hallway side by side. A door opened in front of us, and a waitress came out and walked away from us down the hall. What were these rooms for? Was this VIP? It had to be.

We turned a corner, and there were more doors, but much more spread out. I could only see 6 until the hall turned again. Tony walked us to the middle door to our right, pulled out his wallet and waved it over a black pad next to the door. The door clicked, he turned the handle, and we walked inside.

As the door snapped behind us, I stopped. It was beautiful. It was pretty dark and plain, but there was a giant window – and that window was mostly taken by the moon I had seen hanging on the ceiling in the club. I hadn't even noticed the windows.

Other than that, the room had a couch, a bed in the corner, and a door on the right to what I guessed was a bathroom. The small table in front of the couch had a tray on it - with Tony's scotch and my martini.

At least the music was a dull noise in the background.

"Don't tell me this is YOUR room." I asked as I sat down on the couch and reached for my drink. Tony walked over and plopped next to me with his scotch, and I found my place in the nook of his arm.

"Oh yeah. For what I pay for it, it shouldn't look like a storehouse for drug peddlers." He chuckled, putting his feet on the coffee table in front of us. My martini was top notch too – it wasn't cheap vodka and there were 4 olives even. I hadn't asked for that.

"This must be a high-end club…"

"You could say that."

"I saw…a few people downstairs that I knew."

"I'm sure you did."

He was trying to get around something. What was he covering up? It wasn't like I was saying anything prying.

"What is this place?"

After another gulp, he was already two down for the night. He set the glass down by his feet, then laid back again and pulled me in close, his nose in my hair as he kissed my temple.

But he didn't answer my question.

"Tony-"

"Animal."

"What?" I pulled away from him, staring at him and those eyes. He just looked so…odd.

"It's called Animal. And it is a high-end club. Membership only."

"That wasn't so hard to answer, was it?"

He didn't say anything and just looked at me. He was still hiding something.

"What else. You're not done."

"There isn't anything else."

"Then what's with the contacts?"

"Club gimmick. Makes us 'show the animal inside' or something like that."

"And the naked workers."

"Another gimmick. Animals don't wear clothes, right?"

"…and the glowing liquid."

"You can see them anywhere."

"…this is a high-end sex club isn't it."

I could tell he suddenly wished he had another drink.