Hidden Depths

Chapter 7 - Ding Ding

'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Wonderlust Club,' said Nikolai. 'I can see many familiar faces here tonight, and I am sure that our hosts will be taking extra care of those of you who are new.'

He paused as an excited titter swept across the room. 

'Now, as ever, I must apologise for the somewhat clandestine manner with which we gather, but I'm sure you'll agree that the secrecy is a small price to pay to be members of the most exclusive club in Paris.'

As he spoke, two of the doormen left their post and made their way through the darkness to the boxing ring.  They bent down next to the ropes and inserted small cranking handles into holes in the side of the ring. Then they started quietly cranking as Nikolai carried on with his speech.

'As you'll see from your screen, tonight we start with the ladies, so, without further ado, fighting tonight in red, I give you Miss Muddiva!'

Two doormen pulled back some red curtains and another spotlight revealed a large girl in her mid-twenties. She was wearing a red swimming costume and a ferocious look in her eye.  The guests clapped politely but the hosts went wild, cheering her name as she stomped towards the ring.

'Mud-Diva, Mud-Diva, Mud-Diva!'

By now the cranking bouncers had finished their job and the floor of the ring had been removed to reveal a pit full of a wet, muddy-looking substance that steamed into the cool catacomb air.

An aroma lifted on the steam and floated around the room, lingering in the nostrils of those with ringside seats.  The cheering and applause changed in tone as Miss Muddiva neared the ring, and, when she vaulted over the ropes to land squarely in the pit, a large droplet splashed out from around her feet and landed on the bald head of a very serious looking guest nearby.  The clapping subsided as all eyes turned to the man, who looked truly offended at his loss of dignity.  Nikolai broke the silence.

'Sophia, what is that substance that has just miraculously appeared on your guest's forehead?'

The girl who was sitting next to the bald man stood up and leant in close to inspect.   She gave it a quick sniff before dipping a finger in and tasting it.  With her finger still in her mouth, she excitedly turned back to Nikolai with a look of delighted surprise on her face. She removed her finger before announcing to the room, 'It's chocolate!'

Gasps of surprise swept across the tables and Sophia stood up and leant back over her guest, so that her chest was very close to his face, then slowly licked the splodge cleanly from his head.  She sat back down with a smile and the look on her guest's face showed that, on balance, he had found the experience quite pleasurable.  

Nikolai continued: 'That's right, ladies and gentlemen, tonight, Miss Muddiva will be wrestling challengers in a pit of delicious warm chocolate.' Rashid thought that the evening was turning more bizarre by the second, but he could tell that everyone else in the room was loving it.

'So, who will be taking on such a flavoursome yet formidable challenge this evening?' 

A tall and slim Chinese girl sprang up on one side of the room and an equally tall, yet athletically built, Indian woman stood up a few tables over from her. 

'I give you Yung Fang and Vanisha, two willing challengers if ever I saw them.' 

The ladies removed their earrings, kicked off their shoes, then took off any other items of loose clothing that could be used against them.  The act was undertaken in a business-like and perfunctory manner.  It was clear that they were preparing for battle rather than doing a striptease, but some of the guests seemed to find it titillating all the same, so the applause was punctuated with hollers, wolf whistles and the occasional leery cheer.