"Are you a Leo?" I ask the host of HBO's "Real Time," while eyeing a lion pendant around his neck.
"No, they make me wear this stupid thing because I'm a member," he replies, stroking the back of his date, a pretty younger woman in a short black leather dress.
Around us, a mostly female crowd of models, young professionals, actresses and assistants strut about in couture lingerie, much to the delight of older male guests in tuxedos. One 20-something blonde crawls on the carpeted floor wearing red lace and a face mask with a leather pig snout and ears. Other pretty young things wear metallic pasties and black badges that read "Eat me" or "Touch me" on their décolletage, while holding silver platters of bite-size brownies and parfaits. A man who calls himself the "Bunnyman" and wears a black leather mask and rabbit ears demonstrates various Japanese bondage techniques on an aroused woman sitting upright in a plush, gold-painted chair.
We're at Snctm, an exclusive monthly sex party held in Los Angeles and occasionally New York, where the rich, powerful and pleasure-seeking indulge their kinkiest fantasies.
The parties are the brainchild of Damon Lawner, a divorced 45-year-old with two young kids. Lawner founded Snctm in February 2013 after spending years throwing high-end, but not erotic, events in Bali. He now hosts sex parties full-time. Tonight's event is an intimate affair for 99 people and features two performances: a live threesome and a sexy fire-eating show.
"I'm really lucky," Lawner tells me, his blue eyes twinkling.
Single men pay $1,850 per party, or $1,500 if they come with a female partner. For the erotic elite, there's an annual Dominus membership for $75,000, which includes admission to all parties, a sterling-silver necklace with a lion pendant and access to private rooms at parties and Lawner's network of sex experts. The high-level membership is currently limited to just 11 men and one woman, ranging from Grammy-winning musicians to successful businessmen, according to Lawner.
"Some are married guys that just want to know how to give better [pleasure] ... They don't get this type of thing anywhere else," Lawner says.
Dominus members sign a "blood oath," involving blood and a paper document, to join — but Lawner won't go into details.
"That's all I can tell you," he says. "It's an initiation into the society."
Continue reading at New York Post.
Comment: Speaking of swamps...