"Fine, but you owe me."
"Thanks, man."
Hanging up the phone, Adam let out a huff of air and glared at Justin, who was obviously amused. This was already not the best Monday he'd ever had and it had already gotten worse because he was definitely not interested in dealing with an Introduction Scene this week.
"I blame you," he said, glaring at Justin. The other man just raised one dark eyebrow. "If you and Chris hadn't gotten together with Jessica then Liam would have never met Hilary and all three of you would still be helping out with the Introduction Scenes."
"And if you were actually trying to find a sub, instead of just talking about trying, then you might not be helping out with them anymore either," Justin said, completely unfazed by Adam's bad temper. It was something he'd gotten pretty used to dealing with now that they were working together and he knew that it would pass quickly enough.
"You and your logic."
"Gets you every time."
But it was true and Adam knew it was. Normally that would be enough to help him get back on an even keel, but he'd been decidedly off kilter for weeks now and the weekend hadn't helped the way it was supposed to.
Dammit. He'd still been attracted to Angel, mistress or not, and he'd found himself more intrigued rather than less. Last night he'd had a dream about her. Sadly not an erotic one. No, it was all too obviously a correlation for his life; he'd spent the entire dream chasing her, never quite catching her. She'd been wearing the costume from the first act of the play that she'd been in, a soft pink sundress that matched her lips and made her look like innocence ready for debauching.
Once he'd woken up he hadn't been able to get back to sleep and it had put him in a pretty bad mood first thing in the morning. Followed by even more of a bad mood when the roads were slick and icy, apparently rendering everyone incapable of driving.
He studied Justin. In some ways he'd always considered them to be fairly alike. Despite that they managed to get along well and even work together. "How did you know?"
"Know what?"
"About Jessica."
"What about her?" Justin looked at him with exasperation, not an expression normally seen on the intimidating Dom's face. Subs would probably cower at the almost threatening tone to his voice.
"You and Chris... you two barely knew her but you were drooling over her long before you followed her to the Venus School. How did you know she'd be right for you?"
"We didn't," Justin said simply. He looked at Adam and sighed, clearly seeing that such a concise explanation wasn't going to cut it. A little smile played on his face, but he didn't mention Mistress Angela. Adam decided he liked Justin even more than he'd thought. "We were both attracted to her. We both liked what we saw, and even though she never gave us the chance to talk to her really, we had observed her talking with the people she was more comfortable with. We went to the school because we wanted to get to know her and we wanted to see if either of us would connect with her."
"And you both did."
"Yes." The smile on Justin's face now was that of a happy, smitten, and smug man. "But we couldn't have known that in the beginning." He paused, obviously thinking back to the time before his last stint at the Venus School. "And Olivia thought she was probably a submissive, and she was friends with Jessica so we trusted her judgment."
Inwardly Adam groaned. Olivia again. Except that Olivia thought he should leave Angel alone.
He rubbed his hand over his face again. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Because, deep down, he knew Olivia was right. It was time to get his head out of his ass.
******
"So did he tell you anything?"
"Shh, I'm concentrating," Angel said a low voice before raising it again. "Now, one two three and turn two three and come back together... good! We're going to go through the pattern again, rotate your partners!"
As she moved on to the next man in line, Leigh gave her a little glare. Angel ignored it. She had warned Leigh that the beginners waltz class was usually pretty crowded, and since she'd promised to cover this class for her mother she hadn't been able to back out of it when Leigh had come calling. Which meant that Leigh had followed her to the class, hoping it would be small and they could gossip - and by gossip she meant pump Angel for information about the upcoming weekend that Michael had planned for her.
Her friend was understandably excited considering how distant Michael had been lately; knowing that he had planned something big and romantic had put the sparkle back into her mismatched eyes. It had also given rise to some expectations which Angel had no idea how to address because Michael hadn't hinted at anything and Angel wasn't sure how she felt about the idea.
What if Leigh did come back from this weekend engaged to Michael?
While Angel wanted her friend to be happy, she wasn't sure that marriage to Michael was the way to go about doing it. Then again, it wasn't her life so she kept telling herself that she should butt out. It was something she had to remind herself of often, since Leigh didn’t like hearing that opinion too many times.
Once she'd become angry enough to point out that Angel didn't know what it was like to find a man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, so how could she understand Leigh's perspective? It was a fair point, but Angel still couldn't see tying herself to a man that made her emotions as jumbled as Leigh's often seemed to be. The girl flitted between almost manic highs and depressive lows, often based on Michael's behavior.
When the class was finally over, Leigh cornered her again.
"Seriously... just the tiniest hint..." She was practically begging.
"Seriously, he didn't mention anything to me," Angel said a little waspishly as she took off her ballroom shoes and tucked them into their bag before pulling on her socks and sneakers. She smiled and nodded at a few of the students who thanked her on their way out. "He just asked me to help him pick out a few things that you might enjoy - and I don't mean rings."
"Hmm... but if he did say something, then he'd also make you promise to keep it a secret," Leigh said, following Angel down the hall to the front door like a playful puppy. Her long hair swung down her back and more than one of the entering male students paused to look at her, not that she noticed. As far as Angel could tell, Leigh was always unaware of the effect that she had on men. More than one of the guys Angel had dated in the past had been dumped after she'd noticed them checking out Leigh multiple times. Once was understandable, twice was frustrating but not a deal breaker, but by the third time she figured they should have been with her long enough to be more interested in her than in her best friend. The ones that she'd stayed with the longest had always been the ones that didn't give Leigh more than a once over.
"He probably would, but he didn't. I'm pretty sure he believes I wouldn't be able to keep a secret from you."
"Except that everyone knows you always keep your promises."
True. Angel had never broken one in her life. Promises meant something to her. It also meant she didn't make them very often.
"Okay, but he didn't." Angel turned to face her friend before they walked out into the cold. "Look, why don't you ask him if this is so important to you?"
Leigh made a face. "Because a proposal is supposed to be a surprise."
"Yeah, but you guys have been together for years. You've talked about marriage right?" Leigh nodded. "So why is the timing of when up to him? You've been waiting forever for him to actually pop the question, at what point do you get to speak up and say 'this is what I want and I want it now'?"
Not that Angel really wanted Leigh to get married to Michael, but one of the things that bothered her the most about their relationship was that Michael always seemed to be calling the shots. Which wouldn't be so bad if he was more concerned with what Leigh wanted, but from the outside looking in, it seemed like Leigh was always the one compromising or waiting. Sure, that was partly Leigh's fault for not being more assertive, but Leigh had always been kind of a doormat for him. Eager to plea
se. Kind of submissive really, now that Angel thought about it.
"I don't know..." Leigh shifted uncomfortably, putting her hands in her coat pockets. "I mean... I guess it's partly that I'm just a traditional kind of girl. I just can't really see myself doing it. And I don't want to push him if he's not ready yet." She looked down at the ground and Angel's heart went out to her.
Leigh didn't want to push him because she was afraid he'd want to take a break again. The whole him wanting to see other people because he didn't have the same kind of experience with women as his buddies really messed with their entire relationship. When they'd been on their break Angel had tried to convince Leigh to see other people, but Leigh had insisted that she knew what she wanted and so she wasn't going to mess it up by looking for something else.
And even if it wasn't for that, Leigh wasn't a pushy person anyway. She definitely was the epitome of a traditional girl. Michael had initiated everything in the relationship.
Wrapping her arm around her friend, hating the situation that she was in, but loving her anyway, Angel squeezed her and opened the door. The icy cold hit them like a blast, making Leigh cuddle up even closer to her.
"I know you think I'm stupid," Leigh mumbled. "But I love him."
"I know sweetie. And I don't think you're stupid. Just stupidly loyal. But that's why I love you."
"I love you tooooo. Even if you're a meanie."
Giggling, Leigh wrapped her arm around Angel's waist and squeezed her back as they hurried to their cars.
******
Breathe. You can do this.
Easier said than done. Breathing in a corset was never easy in the first place. Breathing in a corset when she was sitting down was even more difficult. Although this one was at least slightly less constrictive than some of her others; it was one that she'd made special - basically a waist cincher with a shelf for her breasts to rest on. She'd put on a filmy shirt that gave the illusion of possibly being translucent underneath it; the high neck and long sleeves were edged with lace and looked faintly Victorian. All of it was pure white, as was her skirt, her fishnets and the incredibly high heels she was wearing.
Tapping her fingers on her steering wheel, Angel stared at the behemoth of a warehouse that was Stronghold.
It reminded her strongly of how she'd felt when she'd gone to Chained weeks before. Except that this was so much harder because she'd just been there to observe; tonight she was going to have an encounter with a real, live Dom. Who was going to touch her and more. Spank her. Tie her up. Let her try all the things she'd been fantasizing about.
The fabric of her shirt rubbed against her nipples and she blushed when she realized how hard they'd become.
Glancing at the clock she decided to go inside. She was twenty minutes early. Testament to her nerves, she'd gotten ready early and then couldn't stand sitting around the house so she'd come to the club early (putting a jacket over her ensemble before leaving her room so the boys didn't become suspicious). Now she was sitting in her car because there had been no traffic and she couldn’t stand just sitting here either.
Might as well go into the club. Maybe they'd let her poke around for a few minutes. At any rate, there had to be more to look at than the inside of her car.
Normally she had no problem walking in high heels, in fact the higher the better, but her knees were definitely wobbly as she made her way to the front door. She double checked the address, because this really didn't look like a sex club... but it was correct.
Taking a deep breath she pushed open the door and was immediately coaxed inside by the warmth that came seeping out.
Okay, not as much to look at as she might have thought. Chained’s first room had been a lot more impressive. This was obviously an entryway lobby, meant to give you the option to turn around and run screaming if you'd somehow happened into it by chance. A bored looking pixie-ish girl with black hair was sitting behind a desk in front of what looked like a closet; the only other person in the room was standing in the doorway to what Angel assumed was the club.
He was huge; possibly the tallest person she'd ever seen in real life. Gorgeous, with creamy mocha skin and short bristles of hair that hugged his skull. If he ever got a bald spot, no one would know; you'd have to be a pro basketball player to be tall enough to see the top of his head. Of course, he'd never be able to sit down again. The thought made her grin, and then blush as she realized he was smiling back at her, his dark eyes studying her almost as intensely as she was studying him.
Ducking her head at that scrutinizing gaze, Angel turned her attention to the girl behind the desk, assuming that's where she was supposed to go. The girl was studying her too, but she wasn't nearly as scary as the big guy.
"Hi, I'm Ang- Angie," she said, remembering the club name that she'd chosen. "I'm here for an Introduction Scene."
The girl's face lit up. She had bright blue eyes with long black lashes, startling with her pale skin and black hair. It was pretty though. Angel had always wished she had some kind of exotic combination like that, although she'd eventually grown to love the amberish cast to her own hazel eyes. Dressed in definite Goth clothing with a black fishnet shirt, black bra and black skirt, she made Angel wonder if she should have gone with a more 'traditional' fetish outfit. But her white cincher was the only one she had that left her breasts free... all her other corsets completely covered them and would have had to be taken off if the Dom wanted to play with her boobs – she wasn’t sure that would prohibit it.
Kind of slutty reasoning, on one level, but she didn't want to miss out on any experiences and yet she didn't relish the idea of being entirely unclothed.
"Welcome to Stronghold, I'm Lexie," she chirped back, grinning in a warm and friendly fashion. Angel found herself relaxing immediately. "Can I take your coat?"
"Yes please... do I need my ID and things?"
"Yeah, you'll want that kind of stuff to give to Patrick. He'll hold onto them while you do your scene, although normally you'll turn that stuff in here. Leave your cell phone here though, they're not allowed in the club unless you're a doctor or police officer or something like that." Lexie looked at her questioningly and Angel shook her head.
Taking the small clutch out of her pocket, Angel shrugged off her coat and held it out to Lexie.
"Oh my god... I love your outfit!" Lexie was staring in frank admiration. "I've never seen an all-white get-up like that... where did you get the corset?"
"I made it."
"Holy crap... it's gorgeous!" Lexie's eyes traveled all over Angel, taking in the way her breasts were propped up and accessible, and how tiny her waist had been pulled in. "Do you think you could make one for me?"
Angel grinned. "I have a shop on Etsy, although if you let me measure you I can make you one for free." She figured it didn't hurt to get in good with the front desk if she was going to be coming to Stronghold on a regular basis.
"Oh no, if you actually have a shop I'll order one. Although I wouldn't say no to a discount."
"You'd better order one of the shirts too," a deep masculine voice chimed in. "In fact one of those shirts would be perfect. Any kind of shirt at all would be welcome."
Lexie glared and Angel giggled as she turned. The big man had come up behind her and had obviously been listening to the conversation. "Angie, this is Jared... one of my many self-appointed big brothers. Jared, this is Angie."
"Hello Angie."
"Nice to meet you... Sir." Angel tacked the honorific on to the end, assuming by his size and the strength of his presence that he was a Dom. Even if he wasn't, couldn't hurt to be careful.
"If you could make Lexie some shirts, nice and high necked like this one, we'd all appreciate it." He grinned down at her, obviously teasing Lexie and yet entirely serious about the suggestion as well.
The young woman bristled. "There are plenty of women who wear a lot less than I do when they come to the club, Jared."
"Um..." Angel didn't really want to get involved in this, but she
did want to know where she was supposed to go next.
Just then a side door banged open; it was almost concealed as part of the wall so that she hadn't really noticed it immediately. Lexie jumped and spun around as Jared seemed to stand a little straighter.
The newcomer was shorter than Jared but not by much. He was dark-skinned, completely bald and had a wicked looking scar running down the side of his face. The kind that women might swoon over as being dangerous. And speaking of not being dressed in much, he was wearing nothing more than a pair of leather pants. Not that Angel was going to complain, because the scenery was just delightful.
He fixed Lexie with a look that could have killed. "Why is it that you haven't let me know that Angie arrived yet? And that you're keeping her out here instead of sending her into my office?"
"Because we were talking and I was getting to know her. She got here early so it's not like she's late yet. Sir." The tone of Lexie's voice was distinctly bratty and Angel stared at the back of her head with something like awe. She didn't know if she'd have the balls to talk like that to this man. Beside her she could feel Jared moving away, returning to his post, leaving her and Lexie alone with Mr. Wrathful.
Dark eyes like onyx skimmed over Lexie's attire. "Why aren't you wearing more clothes? I told you to stop dressing like this."
"This is more than I wore last week and I'm within dress code for the club. Deal with it."
"The dress code is for the floor, not for employees."
"Well I'm not allowed on the floor, remember? So I guess I should just be able to dress however I want." Now Lexie's tone was distinctly mocking, and the storm clouds on the man's face were growing. Obviously he was some kind of boss - and maybe even lover - to Lexie. He definitely sounded like a jealous lover. And Lexie was definitely poking the bear, trying to get some kind of reaction. Angel was ready to give her a medal for bravery. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself while the man was glaring like that. Unfortunately something was making her nose tickle. As unobtrusively as she could, she let her hand creep up to rub it.
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