On Saturday, Mickie Centrone attended the Endless Night Vampire Ball of Florida at Sky Nightclub & Lounge in Fort Lauderdale.
I happen to believe that you can get used to being anywhere after 15 minutes, and that is why it didn't take long before it felt, once again, normal to be asked by a man to pull the leash attached to his dick. I arrived late to the preparty for the Endless Night Vampire Ball of Florida, which was at the Green Room on Friday night. The black, thick panties this old guy wore had a leash coming out of the front. His white, surfer-meets-businessman hair fell to his ears, making him look like a laid-back, older chap.
Never showing a smile, he asked ladies to pull him. He had sad eyes and no shame. He had enough bravado to ask the same lady multiple times, even though she always said no.
Watching him leave the Green Room like a J. Crew dude was startling. Now in khakis, a dress shirt tucked in, probably a brown belt that matched his shoes, he strolled to the exit with a bag in his hand: all traces of his fetish now hidden, in a bag. It was sorta sad. Especially with his smileless, agonized look. Does a fetish person leave the club upset if he doesn't get what he wants? What does he feel like leaving after a night when no one wanted to pull him?
The next night at the Vampire Ball at Sky Nightclub & Lounge, he was pulled at least one time. Triumph! The night started out hot and remained hot the entire evening. (Warning: This can be used as a pun.) Upon entry, my friends and I heard that the door guy had to call and tell the man who runs Sky to turn on the air conditioning. I'm positive it would have been way more packed had the AC been kicking earlier, but it still was a well-attended affair. Sweat was pouring off of everyone. People who wore capes and full-on medieval gowns -- well, some of them had to leave early. During the night, folks had to switch to drinking water. Dancing all liquored up was a gamble some of us were willing to take.
The girls with black tape on their nipples won out. (My coworker's words of wisdom: Black-tape is the "all-purpose fetish outfit." "When in doubt, tape the nipples.")
Admittedly, the goth/fetish scene appeals to me. Dark music. Goth dancing. The shows are outstanding, and the costumes are awesome. Belly dancers looked like the sexiest demons alive. The aristocrats: One woman had on a metal panty harness and used a torch, so sparks flew all over the stage. There were a couple of counts -- even the count from Sesame Street was present. An older couple looked like they were wearing vampire costumes out of the bag from a Halloween costume store. While I was talking to a hot guy, one of his fangs fell out and hit the ground.
Everyone there had mastered the art of accepting everything with no criticism. People got whipped, and the security guards didn't bother anybody. A patron either minded his own business or, if he was paying attention, his thoughts were pure from any negativity, judgment, or callousness -- that's the general feeling. One girl didn't even get yelled at when she accidentally hit a guy in the balls while she flogged him.
Hell, hooking up with others right there is the beauty. You don't have to take him home and see his face in the morning.
These places are straight out of a dream or a vampire movie (yes, cliché, but still) in regard to fashion and sex. Want to wear a cool, black leather jacket/vest that hangs to the floor? Here, no one hesitated to wear what he wanted to -- if a man wanted to wear a tiny mesh top or carry a whip, he did so. Here, orgasms were screamed in your ear as you slid past a woman who's climaxing, thanks to an everyday back massager being administered by a male down below.
Master whipper Leather Lee innovated and developed a whip for people with wrist trouble. He has some ailments (constantly whipping others can cause carpal tunnel, among other injuries), so he created a glove that's attached to a whip to reduce pain for the whipper. Get at him.
I only met one person who thought he was a vampire, and he didn't tell me that directly. His lady friend told me, over an eye roll. Then she went right up to a boy in a gas mask and asked if he kept Vicks in there. (He did not, but what a genius idea!) It was her first fetish party, and she was hilarious and totally comfortable. I met her vampire friend later, and he looked all over my body for bite marks. How can you go to a Vampire Ball looking like that, he asked, and not have bite marks anywhere on your body? Good point. I gave him my forearm, and he bit it. Pleasurable pain, we meet again.
He then stared at my neck. He waited for the go-ahead. Eh, I wasn't interested: That was not going to cause one of these moments:
We have a slide show, if you want to see more photos.
Follow County Grind on Facebook and Twitter: @CountyGrind. Follow Mickie Centrone on Facebook.
