Sex parties

Chemistry
A moodily lit Manhattan loft—populated by chefs carrying hors d'oeuvres—isn't the setting one would expect for a swingers party, but the crowd here would only use that term ironically. Chemistry is a leader of the new crop of young, hip sex parties in the city. I'm at their Biochemistry night, which is a fluid, bisexual affair.

As couples from their twenties to early forties fill the two-floor loft space, everyone's abuzz with anticipation—pumping straws in and out of their cocktails. A soulful-house DJ builds anticipation, and partygoers softly bump into one another.

Upstairs, the floor is covered with futons, and a thin, exotically dressed woman advertises tantric massages in the corner. The first person to get naked is a tall, strikingly handsome man in his early thirties who buys a rubdown.

Watching him, two people undress and fall onto the futons, getting into rough and fast missionary sex. Waves of couples and threesomes follow, with some of the 15-odd people upstairs watching and gauging how they could get involved.

One woman moans and convulses while three people massage and tease her with vibrators. An attractive foursome, propped up next to the massage table, take turns pleasuring one person in the group, slowly rubbing, licking and sucking before switching.

Downstairs, a few people in various states of undress dance to the DJ. Later, burlesque acts draw a crowd and applause. It's easy to lose track of the outside world since cell phones must be checked at the door, but at 3:30am, the tangles of group sex are undone by last call, and smiling, endorphin-saturated patrons spill out onto the street. Location revealed to members; apply at chemistry-nyc.com. Single women and couples only, with limited exceptions. Next party Oct 1; single females $12--$25, couples $90--$130