Stronghold (Stronghold 1)

by Angel, Golden

  Before she could decide whether or not to accept their invitation there was a small commotion to the side, Dungeon Monitors converging on one of the scenes to her right. Rick and Adam turned in their seats to see what was going on as an angry Dom punched one of the DMs who was dragging him away from the bound sub. Two of them were unhooking her from the St. Andrew's cross and she was obviously crying. Angel bit her lip. That kind of scene was exactly why she was experimenting at Chained, getting her bearings before going to the club that she really wanted to be at. The scene must have gotten out of control and either the sub didn't have a safe word, didn't say it or the Dom ignored it. Or maybe it was just inexperience, although the way the Dom was fighting the DMs made her doubt that.

  No, she shouldn’t be trusting strange men that she didn’t actually know, even if her instincts told her they were okay. And not even if they were both staring at the scene with contained violence, like they wanted to jump in and help the DMs drag the recalcitrant Dom from the club. The gist of what he was saying seemed to indicate that he was more of an abuser than a Dom or a sadist. She only caught a glimpse of his sub as they wrapped her in a blanket, undoing the ball gag from around her head before hustling her off to a private room.

  “They’ll take care of her,” she heard Adam say, and felt his soft touch on her hand. Very gently. That was when she realized she was trembling. The feel of his hand on hers sent a shiver of lust straight through her, despite the upsetting scene she’d just witnessed. Time to go. She definitely did not want to actually try the lifestyle out tonight, on her first visit, no matter how good looking and tempting Master Adam might be. He’d probably hate her if he knew that she was lying, only pretending to be a Domme, and who could blame him?

  Pulling her hand away from Adam she gave him a nod, her face carefully blank to control the emotions roiling underneath.

  “I think I’ve had enough for tonight,” she said firmly, even though there was still a little bit of drink left in her glass. “It was very nice to meet you.”

  He frowned at her and she got the feeling that he was disappointed she wasn’t going to accept Rick’s offer to join them. Why? While she was very attracted to him, he couldn’t possibly be interested in her considering that he thought she was a Domme. Unless maybe he was a switch but she didn’t believe that for one second. He had an incredible aura of power and confidence around him, just from his personality. Although being over six feet tall and muscled like a professional athlete probably didn't hurt either. It was an aura that she could project when she needed to, but with her it was just an act. Apparently an effective one, but still just make believe.

  The look of disappointment and disapproval on his face made her squirm internally, testing her ability to keep her expression under control. I am a Domme, she reminded herself. For tonight at least. But somehow Adam made her want to stop pretending, drop to her knees and beg to be punished for her deception.

  In fact she was probably going to masturbate, fantasizing about that, the second she got home.

  Unlike Adam, Rick didn’t look at all disappointed or perturbed. He just gave her a friendly smile and held out his hand. “It was nice meeting you Angela.”

  “You too,” she smiled back at him, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. Turning to Adam she offered him her hand as well. “It was nice to meet you.”

  The intent gaze on her face caused her smile to slip a little as he reached for her hand and shook it, his thumb practically caressing her skin. Angel’s breath caught in her throat, although she did her best to hide it, and she tugged her hand away. For a moment he didn’t let her and heat flared through her body. Had he found her out? Then he released her and she had to use all of her willpower to keep her traitorous knees firmly locked. He just had that kind of effect.

  "Good night," she said, noting with pleasure that there wasn't the slightest hint of a tremor in her voice. Just because she'd never wanted to be a professional actress didn't mean she was without abilities. With a firm and steady step, forcing herself not to rush, she headed out the door and got her coat. Getting into her car she groaned a little over the late hour and the long ride home. Where there would be a warm bed and her vibrator waiting and she could lose herself in a fantasy of knowing blue eyes that dominated her completely. It was too bad that would never come true, since he obviously belonged to Chained and she wasn't going to be coming here as a sub. Although she'd be back next week, just to check things out again. See if there were any more situations like that awful Dom and that poor girl tonight. Mostly it looked like everyone was pretty well behaved, and considering that this was a new club she found that very reassuring.

  Of course she still wanted to come back and check it out. She wasn't that reassured. And it didn't have anything to do with the possibility that she might run into Mr. Grouchy and his icy, demanding eyes again.

  *****

  "Okay, what is with you tonight?" Rick asked, frowning at Adam. "I've never seen you act like that around a Domme before."

  Adam rubbed his fore and middle fingers of his right hand over the sides of his goatee and then smoothed it all down as he sighed. He knew that movement was one of his tells, which meant that he could control it if he was paying attention, but right now he was a little too worked up. Especially in the groin region. Something inside of Angela had responded when they said goodbye, responded in the way that a sub would, not a Domme.

  "I think she might be a switch and not know it," he said, which was only partially true. Another part of him was wondering if she only thought she was a Domme. She was obviously new to the scene and sometimes people came in thinking they were one thing when really their desires went in a completely different direction. While she’d done some research and had the right clothes, that didn’t equate to the knowledge that came from actually exploring desires. His groin tightened again as he remembered how beautiful her skin looked against that curling dark hair and the forest green of her top.

  She’s not for you. Even if she is a switch, she thinks she’s a Domme. And even if she is a switch, you want a sub, not someone who has needs to be on top as well as bottom, remember?

  Grimacing, he downed the last of his drink.

  "You mean you hope she's a switch so you can play with her," said Rick, looking amused. It wasn't often that anyone got to see Adam thrown off kilter and he was obviously enjoying seeing it happen. "I didn't notice anything to indicate that, but I wasn't really watching either. Unlike some people apparently."

  "Did you see the way she responded when I didn't let go of her hand right away?"

  "Maybe she just didn't like being challenged but didn't feel like she could say anything."

  Well that was a possibility too. The enigma that was Angela was going to haunt Adam all night, he could already tell. He didn't like mysteries but he couldn't stop running through his mind all of the interactions with her that he'd had over the evening.

  "Let's go," he said. Maybe if they got out of here he would be able to focus on something else.

  Chapter 2

  Angel was in the middle of baking a new recipe off of her Pinterest account, salted caramel butter bars (one entire pound of butter, good grief), when her doorbell rang. Setting down her hand mixer and the bowl, which was full of butter and sugar with a little bit of flour, she hurried to answer it.

  "Leigh," she said, feeling her heart sink. "Come in, are you okay?"

  Looking slightly forlorn in her flannel pants and Wonder Woman t-shirt, Leigh walked past Angel into the apartment. Her waist length straight brown hair with its dark blonde highlights was up in a messy bun. Normally Leigh wore nothing but classy little suits and stylish outfits that helped her present a certain 'image' to the world, all for the good of her long term boyfriend Michael Rocke whom she'd been dating since their freshman year of college. Leigh used to be a theater person too, that's how Angel had met her in high school when Leigh moved to town and tried out for the school show, but that part of her life had slow
ly been taken over by the many dinners and events that she had to attend with Michael. She needed a more flexible schedule than even community theater could provide in order to be there fully for Michael. Fortunately her job as a high school English teacher meant that she had a lot of time in the evenings and on weekends as long as she had some time to plan her classes and grade papers.

  However, whenever she came over looking like this that meant there was trouble in paradise again. Angel had really liked Michael at first. He was charming, charismatic and head over heels for Leigh. At least, he had been freshman year of college. And his sophomore, junior and senior years. But neither of them had dated very much in high school, Leigh was his first real relationship, and they had both been virgins when they met each other. For a while it looked like true love and Leigh was still convinced that Michael was her soul mate, but last year he'd broken up with her because he wanted to try dating other people to make sure that she was ‘the one’ for him. Apparently he couldn't know that without dating other women. Leigh said she understood, and Angel supposed she did too, but she had a feeling it was more about the teasing he’d gotten from some of his friends who’d realized he’d only ever had sex with one woman in his entire life than about true uncertainty over whether or not Leigh was who he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.

  Fortunately for Leigh's heart it had only taken him three weeks (and a few failed attempts at getting a date since he hadn't had any practice at it in the past six years) to realize that he was being an idiot and that Leigh was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Angel hadn't really trusted the guy since although Leigh had thrown herself completely back into the relationship, just as starry eyed as ever.

  "Leigh?" Angel asked, closing the front door as her friend didn't answer. Whatever it was it couldn't be too bad because Leigh didn't look like she'd been crying. She just looked upset.

  "I don't know," said her friend with a sigh. Her mismatched eyes looked miserable as she met Angel's gaze, one greenish hazel and the other just hazel, framed by some of the longest lashes that Angel had ever seen. There were times when she'd joked about finding a way to steal them from Leigh. "Michael's acting weird again and I'm just... Annoyed. Frustrated. Antsy."

  "Come into the kitchen and tell me about it," Angel said, giving her friend a big hug. Leigh clung to her for a moment before letting go and they went into the kitchen.

  “Where are the guys?” Leigh asked, referring to the three guys Angel shared the house with. Angel had responded to a Craig’s list ad three years ago and ended up getting along so well with the guys when she first met them that they’d accepted her application immediately. Leigh liked them too, although she preferred not to talk about her issues with Michael when they were around because they’d get all pseudo-protective, despite the fact that they weren’t exactly poster boys for male aggression.

  Angel snorted. “They’re at a LAN party so they’re gone for the weekend. I don’t expect them back until late tonight.”

  About six times a year her housemates would go to a friend’s, hook up their computers with about five other guys, and play whatever new gaming release had just come out. Or they’d have friends over to do so at the house. They were always trying to get her to start gaming with them, especially World of Warcraft, but she already knew she didn’t have the time for the kind of commitment that they gave to their characters. She also knew that if she started, she probably wouldn’t be able to stop.

  Grabbing the hand mixer, she flipped it on again, cupping her hand around the edge of the bowl to keep the dough from flying out.

  "What are you making?"

  "Salted caramel butter bars. I just need to run the mixer for another minute and then we can talk."

  Pulling over one of the chairs from the table in the breakfast nook, Leigh scooted it closer to Angel as she watched the mixing process. The kitchen was a little warm, thanks to the pre-heating oven, but Angel had the window open to let in some of the icy winter air to counteract how warm the kitchen got when she was baking. Once the batter was evenly mixed, Angel put the hand mixer to the side and divided half of the dough to go into the bottom of the greased pan.

  "Okay, speak."

  "I mean... I can't really pin anything down. He's just being distant. And every time he gets distant I get paranoid."

  "Isn't he in the middle of some big project right now?" Angel didn't entirely understand what Michael did. Something to do with business consulting about... something. She had the bad habit of letting people run on and on about work and just letting it go in one ear and fly out the other.

  "Yeah, the one in London. They're looking to start trying to branch out to the international market and possibly open an office over there and he's in the thick of things."

  "So maybe he's just really busy with work stuff. That sounds like a lot of pressure."

  While Angel didn't really like Michael she often found herself playing Devil's Advocate for him ever since he'd broken Leigh's heart. Leigh’s heart had healed enough to give him another chance, but she still got worried sometimes that he was going to do it again. Especially since he hadn't really gotten the experiences in dating other people that had been the whole reason he'd broken up with her. She had admitted to Angel that in some ways she would have found it more reassuring if he had seen other people and then chosen to come back to her, but she was so torn up by the idea of him being with anyone else that she had grabbed at the chance when he returned to her. But it didn't stop the fear that maybe he'd decide getting back together with her was the larger mistake.

  Pouring the melted caramel layer on top of packed down dough, Angel sprinkled a little bit of champagne sea salt that she'd gotten from a specialty store over the caramel before crumbling the remaining dough to make the top layer of the bars. Glancing at her friend she could see the worry still on Leigh's face and her stomach clenched. Leigh's instincts might be all messed up since last year when it came to Michael, but she usually saw reason once Angel reassured her. The fact that she was obviously still anxious made Angel even more anxious.

  "He hasn't wanted to have sex this week."

  "That happens sometimes," said Angel soothingly, although she knew that the truth was it rarely happened with Michael. Leigh didn't believe in TMI, not when it came to her best friend, and so Angel was well aware that Michael and Leigh's sex life was pretty regular. As in once a day regular, usually more if Michael was stressed or under pressure and needed an outlet for relief. Privately she'd sometimes wondered if that was the real reason Michael had come crawling back to Leigh after a mere three weeks, because he'd realized he couldn't get steady, reliable, safe sex as a single man. Especially a single man just out of a five year serious relationship who didn't have the time to build a new one due to work and yet also didn't believe in one night stands.

  "Not with us," Leigh said, shooting her a look that said she knew Angel knew better.

  Angel pursed her lips. There really wasn't much she could say on the topic that she hadn't already said before and she didn't think Leigh needed to hear more on Angel's theory that Michael used her for sex. Well, and because he truly did care about her, although Angel didn’t believe for a second that he cared more about Leigh than he cared about himself. But the remnant of love that he carried was just enough for Leigh to survive on. Of course, that was just Angel’s opinion but she also knew that she couldn’t see what happened when it was just Leigh and Michael alone. She could see that he treated her well for the most part, it was just that she couldn’t get over the callous way he’d treated their short separation and the reasons he claimed he’d come back after his failure at dating someone new. Angel felt protective over her friend, even though she knew her opinion on their relationship didn’t actually matter in the long run. Leigh sighed and rubbed her hands over her face as Angel popped the pan into the oven.

  "Let’s watch The Tudors and have some wine, we still haven’t finished watching the fourth season." Probably because it wasn
’t nearly as interesting as the previous seasons, but both of them loved that point in history and were determined to finish it. Sure it wasn’t completely historically accurate, but overall the series had done a pretty decent job.

  It was their standard downtime activity. They'd lived together for a while after college and had often indulged in days of sitting around marathoning various television shows while eating junk food. Pretty standard girl stuff actually.

  Leigh brightened a little. "Got any tater tots?"

  "Better, smiley fries." Angel grinned as she pulled them out of the freezer. They'd take a little longer because the caramel bars needed a lower temperature than the smiley fries, but that didn't matter. They could wait. "They're just so happy to be eaten!" The girls giggled as Angel dumped the fries onto a tray and Leigh got out the wine and wine glasses, already looking a little better just at the thought of having some Angel & Leigh time.

  About an hour later they were ignoring the smiley fries and gorging on the salted caramel butter bars, which had to be the best freaking thing Angel had ever tasted in her life.

  "We can't eat all of these," she said for about the tenth time as she picked up her fourth one. "That’s a pound of butter. Don't let me forget that."

  "That's only half a pound each if we share the whole thing," said Leigh rubbing her stomach. She was on her fifth one. They'd eaten about a third of the pan already. They were warm, crumbly, caramel perfection, with a little bit of salt to balance out the sweet and tingle their taste bus, and wonderful gooey, melty yumminess. "What else are you going to do with them?"