Guest Post: Janine Ashbless

Today, I’m hosting the amazingly talented writer (and fellow geek–she LARPs and I used to until I ruined one body part too many) Janine Ashbless, talking about her story in Bound by Lust, “Being His Bitch.” Behind the story lies a real-life sexy adventure.

 

I gave my story contribution to Bound by Lust the provocative title of “Being His Bitch” because it’s a petplay story – the two main characters, Dev and Rosie, are a married couple with a thing for domination and submission, and this story is about their night at the kink club to which they belong.

I based the setting on my first visit to a BDSM party a few years ago, so I thought I’d talk about that, for those who’ve never been to one and may be wondering what it’s like.

You may think an erotica writer spends all her time at orgies and debauchery, but believe me that’s not usually the case at all! I actually went because a friend of mine was keen to see what it was like, and had been urging me for at least a year. The event was one hosted by Club Subversion in London, with the theme, on that occasion, of the Wild West. So we dressed as rather gothy saloon girls (which involved some giggly visits to fancy dress shops and some guerilla sewing), and we went with her husband and some more of her friends.

 

 

Was I nervous? Yes – a bit, in that it was something new that I’d never come close to trying before. But I do love costuming up – I’m a LARPer!

Now because they run open adult events, Subversion have strict rules about dress and behavior, just to make sure they don’t fall foul of the law. When we went, there was a general no-nudity-and-no-sex policy. (In my story, the club is a private affair and there are far fewer restrictions.) The rules are there to prevent unwanted touching and inappropriate behavior, and just generally to make sure everything is strictly consensual and non-threatening.

We arrived with a big crush of people, and used the makeshift changing area downstairs. The main floor upstairs contained several rooms – a bar, a dance area (too loud for me), a play area and a room used for theatrical displays – there were some burlesque acts, I remember, and a bullwhip display (in cowboy costume, naturally), and a sales table with floggers and paddles and such. I think maybe half of the punters were in Wild West costume, the rest in more general fetishwear – lots of latex. The other guests were mostly in the 25-40ish age range. There were more women than men.

The play area was a large shadowy room with various racks, bondage tables, cages and padded benches dotted around for free use by the partygoers. There was a medical-themed annex. The equipment was all in near-constant use, with plenty of people keen for a public spanking or whipping, and if you weren’t directly involved in a scene you stood at a polite distant and watched.

Midway through the evening, the three of us women were approached by a man who wondered if we’d be interested in giving him a good thrashing. It made me want to laugh – this guy was gorgeous (tall, young, white-blond, toned and tan, glittery eyelash extensions …). He looked like a Tolkien elf. There’s no way I’d normally be asked to interact socially by anyone that wonderful to look at.

I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed using the strap on his rock-hard butt, I’ve got to say. A completely new experience for me, it was careful, focused work, keeping the rhythm and intensity going between the three of us; and though my main fear was of hurting the guy for real with a mis-strike, nothing of the sort happened and he was very gracious and complimentary about our efforts. Heh.

My shoulder muscles ached like hell the next day too – it’s great exercise!

But not everyone looked like an elf. In fact, one of the nice things about BDSM is that body-fascism is less evident there than in normal life. People with perfectly ordinary bodies were happy to dress them up, or get them out, for public approval. It felt good, and accepting.

My overwhelming memory of the event was how safe and comfortable it felt. Sexuality was treated as something positive and playful. This may sound a little surprising, given that BDSM thrives upon the appearance of threat and tension. And I don’t find normally myself at ease among crowds of strangers, not at all. But everyone was scrupulously well-behaved and polite. They were all having a good time, but there were no drunks in evidence: I felt safer there than I would in any ordinary pub. And as for the costume – well, given my LARP background, I’m used to getting dressed up and hanging out with people who look amazing or frightening. And I know it doesn’t make them scary underneath.

In fact, my impression of Subversion was that it’s very very similar to a LARP gathering, only with less leather and more rubber. And nobody had to look mysterious and say “Indeed…”

So, the club in my story “Being His Bitch” is a lot more extreme and edgy than the real thing. I thought I’d let you know 🙂

 

xxx

Janine

www.janineashbless.blogspot.com

 

Excerpt from Being His Bitch

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Here’s a recap of the tour if you want to go back and check out any posts you missed.

June 11

Shanna Germain / Welcome

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