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ChapterThree
Ava
When our plane touches down in Las Vegas a week and a half later, I’m starting to wonder what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.The five-hour flight has given me plenty of time to think about the reality of what I’m about to do—time that I haven’t had since the night I got drunk and filled out the questionnaire.First there was graduation, followed by a celebratory dinner with Serena and her parents, and then Emmett and I had to pack up our apartment, putting our ragtag collection of furniture, housewares, and personal items in storage.The remaining time was consumed with a laundry list of things to do before going on the show: making an appointment with my gynecologist to be tested for God knows what, changing my ticket from Miami to Las Vegas, and packing.I also indulged in a little pre-show shopping with the check my mom sent me for graduation, and the thought of Senator Sanderson’s money paying for my entire wardrobe of underwear and lingerie for the show was enough incentive to make me actually cash it.
A limousine picks us up at the airport and we make the short drive to the Las Vegas strip in relative silence, Emmett and I both lost in our own thoughts.We pull into the circular driveway in front of the Helix, and as the limousine comes to a stop, I can feel my heart beating a quick tattoo in my chest.This is it.I take a deep, steadying breath.The driver opens the door and extends his hand to help me out, telling Emmett he’ll have our bags delivered to our room.Emmett grabs my hand as we enter through the thick glass doors, but I’m not sure if it’s to reassure me or so we’ll look like a real couple.
“Oh my God,” I breathe.The hotel is even more beautiful in person.I try not to gape at the soaring, intricately carved gold ceiling as an attractive woman with long blond hair wearing a simple black dress and a unique silver necklace walks across the vast lobby to meet us, her heels clicking against the black marble.
“Welcome to the Helix,” she says in a soft, cultured voice.“Your names please?”
“Emmett Stone and Avalon Summers,” Emmett answers for both of us, his voice deepening in response to her appreciative gaze.
I roll my eyes.I have yet to meet a woman on this planet who’s immune to Emmett’s charms.
She consults the tablet in her hand, touches the screen several times, and then looks up with a smile.“Excellent.Welcome toThe Power Games.My name is Rachel.I’ll show you to your room shortly so you can get settled.All contestants will meet back here in the lobby at six o’clock for a formal tour of the hotel, followed by dinner in the Sapphire Room.Attire is street casual, so you can save the good stuff for the cameras.”She gives me a conspiratorial wink and I smile back tentatively.
“Tomorrow we’ll begin the first of several elimination processes to select the final twenty-eight contestants, but there’ll be more information on that at dinner.”She looks at Emmett.“Would you prefer one of our regular suites with a king-size bed on a pedestal, or one of our king-size dungeon beds with a cage underneath?”
“What the—” I start in horror, but Emmett squeezes my hand in silent warning.I close my mouth.
“I’d like to see them both, if I may,” he says politely.
“Of course.Right this way.”
Emmett and I carry on an entire conversation without saying a word as we follow Rachel to the bank of glass elevators.My side of it consists of one single penetrating look that sayswhat the fuck?while Emmett’s is a bit more placating with a pointed reminder—conveyed via raised eyebrows—of why we are here.I try to keep my face impassive as she ushers us into a beautifully appointed suite and points out the bed, which as she implied, really has a small, barred cage with a door built into the platform under the bed.It’s just big enough for a person to lay down in, with a removable thick, black satin pad in the bottom.
Emmett nods.“Interesting,” he says as if he’s actually considering the room.Finally, he says, “But I think we’ll take the regular suite.”
She shows us to a regular suite, which thankfully has one of the beautiful, black-lacquered, four-poster beds with the curtained canopy that I saw on the website.After she leaves, I collapse onto the bed.
“What the hell kind of place is this?Are there Doms who actually expect their subs to sleep in those cages like a dog?”I ask, still shocked.
“It’s a turn-on for some women,” Emmett says as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.“It can remind a sub of her place and her dependency on her Dom; it’s possibly the ultimate form of surrender.But it’s definitely not for everyone.Just try to keep an open mind, Ava.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.“Okay.I just feel like I’m in a little over my head.”
He crosses the room and sits on the bed next to me, pulling me next to him in a comforting hug.“You don’t have to do this,” he reminds me.“It’s not too late to back out.”
“Yes, it is,” I say firmly.“I have no money and no place to live for the summer.But more importantly, I want to screw Anthony over like he’s screwed me.I’m in this for as long as I can make it last, no matter what.”
* * *
An hour later, I’m feeling more like myself and ready to take on the world.I’ve showered and dressed in a simple but elegant deep blue dress with a close-fitting bodice and a skirt that swirls around my thighs as I walk, and heels.When Emmett and I walk into the lobby this time, it’s teeming with people.There are quite a few more men than women—ranging in age from their early twenties to forties—and other than a few other couples who appear to be together, the majority seem to have come on their own.The women congregate in small groups talking nervously, while the men seem more at ease, laughing easily together as they casually and unapologetically size up the women.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Doms and subs, welcome to the Helix.”The masculine voice cuts through the chatter and a hush falls over the room as all eyes turn to the attractive man with dark blond hair dressed in a charcoal suit with a small microphone pinned to his lapel.
“Thank you for joining us forThe Power Games.I’m Logan Stanford—owner and Master of the Dominion Club in San Francisco, Dominant, the host ofThe Power Games, and your main point of contact during the filming.I believe most of you met my wife and submissive Rachel when you arrived.She’s also here to help you with anything you need, so please feel free to ask either of us, or any of the production crew or hotel staff, if you need anything.I’m sure you’re all eager to begin, so we’ll start with a tour, followed by dinner, where you’ll be given the itinerary for the next few days.Now, if you’ll please follow me, I’ll show you around what is going to be the most talked-about hotel in the world in a few short months.”
The hotel is as massive as it is opulent, and the tour takes a good hour.By the time we’re seated in the smaller of the hotel’s numerous restaurants, it’s almost seven o’clock.We select our entrée from a preset menu that includes shrimp scampi, chicken Marsala, and cheese manicotti, and I have a feeling I’m going to have to become acquainted with the gym on the lower level of the hotel if all of the meals are going to be like this.Champagne and Scotch are freely poured, and by the time Logan takes the small stage next to a gorgeous Steinway grand piano, we’re all feeling more at ease and the room is buzzing with a friendly hum of conversation.
I listen intently as he goes over the rules for the next few days.Although there are over one hundred applications that were accepted, by the end of the week there will only be twenty-eight contestants selected to compete in the Power Games—fourteen men and fourteen women.He adds that while the Helix is inclusive and will welcome all types of couples, including female dommes, male submissive, and same-sex couples, the competition will only feature male Dom and female submissive pairings for simplicity.Doms and subs who entered without a partner will be randomly matched, and each Dom/sub pair will audition with a scene of their choice on Wednesday.The finalists will be decided based on the audition by the director, producers, and Logan.
Logan says something about there being an auction to determine how the remaining Doms and subs will be matched for the actual games, but I only listen with half an ear, grateful that I won’t have to worry about that.Instead, I entertain myself by looking around the room at the variety of men and women whom I’ll be competing against, trying to guess which women will be catty and cutthroat and which men think they’re God’s gift to women.
An excited hum vibrates through the room when Logan announces that filming for the show will begin with the auction on Friday.I tune back in as Logan explains how the show will progress after that.Each round will consist of at least one private scene between each couple, which will be selected by the Dom, a group competition, additional footage at the discretion of the production team, and possibly a social function and/or time in Club Helix, with viewers voting two couples off after each of the first four rounds and then one couple after each of the remaining rounds until there is a winning couple.I’m relieved to find out that the cameras aren’t rolling all the time, although the Dom has the final say over what is recorded and what isn’t outside of the official scenes.
At least there’ll be some down time, although I have no idea exactly what I’ll do with it; we aren’t allowed cell phones, books, magazines, movies, or music, and we can’t leave the property.We are, however, allowed to freely roam the hotel and interact with each other, so at least I can make use of the fabulous pool.After working and studying nonstop for the past four years, the thought of an entire summer with nothing to do but lie by the pool and attend a few social functions sounds heavenly.
