The Trade: Danielle has sex for money, but don’t call her a prostitute

“It’s an escort service,” she says, and she’s just in it for the money.

But “Danielle” is just her escort identity. For safety reasons, she prefers to keep her real identity anonymous as well as the company that initially hired her.

“I found the company through my roommate’s mother,” she explains. It was a Craigslist post for the kind of ad you’d find in the back of a magazine. The Denver company offers fetish and BDSM services from women ranging from petite to voluptuous to transgender. Payment is a donation based and agreed upon between the client and the escort, making the service legal.

“At first I was like, ‘F*ck no, are you kidding me? I can’t believe you even approached me!’” But after some thought, Danielle decided to at least set up an interview to see what it was all about. On the phone, she spoke with a female named Theresa.

“But there was never really a Theresa,” she recalls. “There was only the [male] owner. He was doing it all, fake voice and everything.”

Danielle said it was a little creepy, but the owner did that to put his male clients at ease. He operates the business out of his house, alongside his wife, who works as a dominatrix. Their children also live in the house.

The escorts essentially donate their time for an amount of cash. For example, 15 minutes with an escort costs around $70, and it goes up from there. Some men spend up to four hours. Rates also rise if the men request any kind of fetish play. Cash payment is required immediately following the service.

During the client’s initial call, they must repeat a verbatim, stating they’re not with law enforcement. Of course, the client could just lie and come as an undercover cop, but it isn’t common.

Danielle says her longest scheduled time with a client was two hours, but he ended up leaving after 30 minutes. He still paid for the full two hours, and he tipped $200.

Her weirdest experience was a man who paid her to simply bend over the bed while he stared and masturbated.

“It was the easiest money I’ve ever made,” she laughs. Her best experiences were when she was making the most money. Danielle says it’s all about the hustle for her.

However, a lot of men tend to show up looking for a “girlfriend” experience — they just want to feel valued.

“The clients want someone to tell them they’re a good man and they’re loved,” Danielle says. “They just want to know they’re a good person.”

Most of the time, these clients are normal, wealthy men looking for something they’re unable to obtain with the workload from their jobs, like a girlfriend. It takes the complicated courting out of the picture.

“They’re not looking to be in a relationship,” Danielle says. “They’re just looking for some really good sex.”

The company also hosts swingers parties on Saturday nights, where Danielle would host and bartend, but she was never involved in the action. Admission was a flat rate depending on gender, plus a bottle of top-shelf liquor or an eighth of weed, and three condoms.

Danielle recalls showing up at noon on Friday and not getting home until 6am on Sunday. But even with the intense workload, she wouldn’t sleep at the house.

The company lost its appeal for her when the owner started going on long-winded, ecstasy-fueled speeches about the company. The other girls would also take ecstasy, but Danielle refused.

“The owner would play mind games, and the girls would just eat it up,” she recalls. “I would sit there, stone-cold sober, listening to all these ranting lunatics … and I decided this was not the place for me.”

That was only after a few months working with the company. After finally deciding to walk away, it took her about a month to leave. Several other girls soon followed.

“It was definitely something that rocked my world, and not necessarily in a good way,” she explains. “While I learned a lot about myself and gained a ton of self-confidence, it really opened my eyes to a whole new world.”

But she doesn’t plan on looking away just yet. Danielle feels this industry is something that should be legalized and regulated, like marijuana, because it can get dangerous. Recently, she heard of an escort friend who was basically raped by a cop. He demanded sex, or he’d take her to jail.

“It’s very real, and it happens all the time,” she says. “I feel like girls don’t need to be put in that position.”

Danielle keeps up with many of her fellow escorts through a Facebook group, where they talk about their experiences. While some have tried to make it on their own, they’ve discussed plans to start their own escort house, where they’ll run things a little differently.