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For more, visit www.charlotteboudoir.com.

Just call her "mistress"

For the last seven years, Mistress LunaSea has been a "domme of sensual torture." What does that mean? It means she's a dominatrix -- which, she says, was a natural fit for her: "I've been picking on boys my entire life."

But just because she picks on and lords over men, it doesn't mean she's having sex with her clients. "People think that a dominatrix provides sexual services, and that's incorrect," she says. Instead, Mistress LunaSea provides BDSM (bondage, domination and sadomasochism) fetishes and role-playing experiences.

"There is no masturbating, no touching, nothing," says the mistress. "People come and they talk. There is an emotional release a lot of times. Some times people cry. It's a mind and soul vacation."

And while she isn't a doctor, she said some of her clients view their sessions as therapy. Which is one of the reasons why she's currently taking psychology classes. "With all I've been through and seen and done, that will definitely help me," she says.

Just what has she done? Shows, which are described on her Web site as ranging from "burlesque to the fetish and grotesque." She's been featured in Maxim magazine and will host DomCon LA, a California-based professional and lifestyle domination convention, this May.

Back at home, Mistress LunaSea has three slaves who contribute to her lifestyle. "It's consensual slavery," she explains. "There are people out there and all they want to do is serve people. They want to take you and get your nails painted, they want to take you shopping and they want to pay for you to take a vacation. There are people out there who aren't happy unless they [serve]. I've been fortunate to find three like that."

In a supposedly conservative banking town like Charlotte, you'd think a dominatrix would have a difficult time finding one "slave." But, according to Mistress LunaSea, the BDSM community in the Queen City is larger than folks would imagine. "I can't say exactly how big it is," she says, "but there are probably over six groups in the Charlotte area."

Though the community may be strong, there's not a lot of conversation about BDSM in the mainstream. Mistress LunaSea says that it's because people are doing it and don't even realize it.

"I think a lot of people do practice in their bedroom. They will play with blindfolds and maybe a little spanking and play with tying up. They're practicing a form of BDSM ... Why they don't want to talk about it, I think it's because they're insecure."

And she adds that nearly everyone who comes to see her -- clients ranging from religious people to local power brokers -- is married or in a relationship.

"Some of them are very big on saying 'Mistress, I just want you to know that I am married.' And I say, 'Well, we're not going to have sex, so it doesn't really matter to me.'"

For more, visit www.mistresslunasea.com.

Going with the FLO

Lesbian party promoter Holly J, 39, saw a market in Charlotte that wasn't being served. Instead of complaining about it, however, she created FLO -- parties "for lesbians only" (or for women who just want a night out with their girls).

"A lot of times, women don't want to deal with the hustle and bustle of gentlemen asking them to dance and then disrespecting them when they don't want to dance," says Holly J. "So we provide a venue where women can come out."

And when Holly J says women only, she means it. "We don't allow the gentlemen to come in due to the fact that a lot of these women are just trying to hang out with their girlfriends and they're not trying to bother anybody."

Her events -- everything from "sexy jeans parties" to all-white parties to Halloween and New Year's Eve parties -- have grown over the last five years that she's been promoting FLO.

"We started out with 10 people coming to our events and now we have over 300 people coming out," she says. "I'm very proud that it's grown and people feel there is a need for it."

So, what's so sexy about these parties? According to Holly J: "I think the sexiest thing in the world is seeing two beautiful women having a good time. That's the sexiest picture that I could ever see and never get tired of looking at."

On top of that, she stands up for the fact that ladies don't have to take their clothes off to be sexy. She knows what women, straight or gay, want when they go out: a good time with no drama.

Holly J, who lives in Charlotte, said she's never had any trouble at her events or setting up parties at the various venues that she's used. As a matter of fact, the first FLO event wasn't in Charlotte -- it was in Union County, which isn't known as a liberal area.