Stronghold (Stronghold 1)

by Angel, Golden

  As if on cue, to mock his determination to be completely jealousy-free, Michael chose that moment to show up, accompanied by Andrew. Since the girls were closer to the front door entrance, they were the first ones to greet the new arrivals as they appeared from the hall.

  While he would have liked to say that he didn't even notice Angel's greeting to Michael, it would have been a complete and utter lie. But what he did notice was almost shocking.

  Leigh had been right. The tension, the flirtatious air that had always tinged the air around Angel and Michael had completely disappeared. They hugged, Angel called him 'Pretty Boy' again, he growled at her... but something was missing. Some connection between them that had definitely been there before.

  Was it really as simple as Leigh had indicated? One of them becomes involved in an exclusive relationship and the attraction between them would just melt away? He'd been prepared to deal with it, knowing that Angel and Michael wouldn't work in the long wrong - just as he and Brooke hadn't - and that they both knew that. But he thought he'd at least have to deal with the fact that they were still attracted to each other.

  Instead, she now had the same air around Michael as she did around his roommates.

  That was reassuring, right? Or was it her acting skills popping up again?

  "Get it together, grouch," Rick said, elbowing him in the side. The admonition was for Adam's ears only, easily covered by the chatter that had exploded in the kitchen. "Stop glaring at Angel or she's going to think you're mad at her."

  Dammit.

  Adam rearranged his features to a more neutral expression just before Angel looked over at him and smiled, her eyes bright. The air between them seemed to shimmer with the same tension he noticed had disappeared between her and Michael, but much more intense. No one could fake that. Rick was right, he needed to get it together.

  Moving over to the other side of the island, Adam led the way for the rest of the guys to mix things up, undoing the unintentional "boys vs. girls" separation that had occurred.

  "Glad you could make it," he said to Andrew, slapping the other man's palm in greeting while he snaked out his other arm to put it around Angel's waist and pull her into him. It was the kind of physical declaration that he hadn't made yet in front of his friends, and Andrew grinned in approval.

  "Sorry I'm late. My sister seems to have changed tactics from ignoring my existence to trying to drive me completely insane." He rolled his eyes as Adam made a sympathetic noise, but he could tell that Andrew was kind of relieved that Irene was at least talking to him again. Even if she was being annoying.

  "Well come on in, shockingly there's still food left. Although we ate all the cheddar puffs already."

  ******

  As if by unspoken agreement, Angel lingered on as everyone else left. Adam hadn't asked her to and she hadn't said that she would, but she wanted to get a few moments alone with him. Not that she hadn't loved today and spending time with his friends. She'd especially appreciated that he'd invited Mike, who was already blending into the group. It was obvious that he and Andrew got along really well already, and the other guys seemed perfectly welcoming.

  Which was kind of incredible, considering what a tightly knit group they were and how long they'd all known each other. But she guessed they were getting used to hanging out with new people, considering that Jessica and Hilary had only started dating their men within the past year.

  "So, do you have anywhere you need to be tonight?" Adam asked as he shut the door after Rick, Andrew and Michael. The three of them were going over to Andrew's place to hang out a little longer, all of them being rather obvious that they were leaving to give her and Adam some alone time. The very unsubtle hints and teasing had made her beet red for a bit, but it was worth it to be left alone with Adam. The look he was giving her made her think of a large predator, pacing around prey that was already caught and deciding whether or not it was going to pounce.

  "No, not really." She wound her hands in front of her, feeling both excited and uncomfortable. New relationships were always a little awkward. Especially when the other person was staring at you like you were a particularly delectable treat. And of course everything was made a million times more awkward by her acknowledgment to herself that she hoped sticking around meant getting naked and doing lots of naughty things.

  She hated the whole insecurity thing over whether or not it was too soon to do that and would he respect her in the morning, blah, blah blah... but Leigh had been right about it sounding like Adam wanted to be her boyfriend. Even if he'd never said the word. And she really didn't want to make more assumptions, but he'd flat out told her that they were going to be seeing each other exclusively and that was good enough for her.

  It had been months, maybe years, since she'd been with a guy that she wanted this badly on such a visceral, sexual level.

  "Good," Adam practically purred, stepping towards her. Looming over her in that uber sexy way that he had. Angel's head tipped back and she could feel her pulse fluttering in her throat as he leaned over and kissed her.

  Not gently, but not roughly, he touched her with nothing but his mouth, a firm press of his lips against hers. They parted and she followed, her fingers locking together as his tongue delved in. While she wanted to put her hands up on his chest, she followed his lead and kept them to herself, making their only connection the kiss.

  Then he pulled away, his blue eyes sparkling, looking almost mischievous. "So, want to go play some Halo? I want to see how I do against you."

  Oh the jerk. The rotten, panty-wetting, pulse-pounding, pussy-teasing jerk. She'd thought he was going to suggest going to the bedroom. Oh he was so going to pay.

  "Bring it on."

  Chapter 20

  Jerkface jerkface jerkface.

  Mr. Grouchy had turned into Mr. Tease and her panties would have probably caught on fire by now if they weren't completely soaked through. It was the worst game of competitive Halo that she'd played in years, even though she still beat him.

  He'd decided that the perfect place for her to sit was on the floor between his legs. Which wasn't so bad in and of itself; Angel actually preferred to sit on the floor when she was playing video games. More comfortable seating tended to make one want to sink into it and relax. On the floor she was forced to sit up straight which kept her pretty alert.

  However, it was an entirely different experience being on the floor between Adam's legs when there was no one else in the room and she could feel him all around her. Every time she breathed in she could smell the subtle, spicy scent he was wearing. The heat from his body surrounded her; he was leaning forward so that she could feel his breath across the top of her head and it made her skin tingle with goose bumps.

  Still, she probably could have gotten past all that and kicked his ass no problem if it wasn't for all his damn little light touches.

  Every time it looked like she was about to get the drop on him, he'd brush his fingers across the back of her neck, or on her collarbone, or down the V of her sweater, over the soft fabric covering her breast... and Angel's concentration would be shot for just that critical split second it took for him to get back under cover or duck out of her line of fire.

  So she was not only becoming sexually frustrated with all the teasing, but she was becoming frustrated with the game as well.

  "Dammit all to hell!" she blurted out as he dodged again.

  "We're going to need to work on your language," Adam murmured, his voice a deep rumble just above her head. It took all of her willpower not to look up. His voice was kind of mesmerizing when he spoke low like that.

  "There's nothing wrong with my language."

  "Normally no, but when you're playing video games..."

  "Are you threatening to spank me if I don't clean up my language?" she asked, only half teasing. At this point her nipples had been rubbing against the fabric of her bra for about half an hour, her panties were almost uncomfortably wet, and if she hadn't had the game controller i
n her hands she probably would have already tried to jump him.

  Okay, maybe that was a lie, because Adam was a little too intimidating to jump, but she would have been working harder to try and get him to jump her.

  Maybe. She had to admit that she kind of liked being surrounded by his body while he teased her mercilessly. Good grief she needed to get herself together. In some ways she felt kind of pathetic, but on the other hand, her desire to just let him do what he wanted made her feel incredibly submissive.

  And that just got her hotter.

  The game paused and her fingers tightened around the controller. Now she didn't dare look up at him. Heat rose up in her cheeks. Angel considered herself a pretty hard person to embarrass, but right now that's exactly what she felt. She bit her lip to keep her from blurting out anything else stupid.

  "Is that what you want?" he asked. She couldn't read his tone at all. Was he amused? Interested? Condemning? She could feel her shoulders hunching in, as if to get away from the male body that surrounded her even though it wasn't touching her.

  "No."

  Angel squeaked as she was suddenly lifted by her waist and turned over, her controller still clutched uselessly in her hands.

  "I said no!"

  "And you were lying."

  SMACK!

  "OW!" He'd gotten her on her sit spot, right where she would be most sensitive and the sharp slap of his hand would hurt the most.

  Although, considering the jeans she was wearing, it's not like she'd left him much of a choice. Damn Leigh and her insistence that Angel wear the bling-y jeans! They hadn't thought about this aspect of it!

  "It's rather interesting," Adam said, almost conversationally as he rubbed his hand over the spot he'd just smacked. Angel tried not to moan. Or think about how close his hand was to her pussy. Didn't matter that she was still wearing jeans, she could still feel the heat of his palm. She pushed her face into the couch cushion and hugged the controller to her chest. "You're not a brat exactly, which is good because I don't particularly enjoy bratty behavior, but you're not exactly well-behaved either."

  "By whose standards?" Angel asked, taking a peek back at him through the curtain of her hair. But he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at her ass. And she became so interested in looking at him looking at her ass that she completely missed the raise of his hand.

  SMACK!

  "OUCH!" He'd gotten her sit-spot on the other side.

  Well at least each one was smarting equally now. She always did hate asymmetry.

  "That's what I mean," he said, chuckling, as he rubbed the new spot. "You didn't say that because you wanted me to spank you again, and you could have said something a lot more insulting or sarcastic, but you weren't exactly polite either."

  Angel rolled her eyes. "By whose standards, Sir?"

  SMACK! SMACK! She squealed as he smacked each side.

  "Now that was bratty," he said, sounding disapproving. Her insides seemed to shrivel.

  ******

  "Sorry, Sir." Her voice was low but contrite.

  While Adam didn't normally like being called Sir outside of a scene, and they hadn't exactly established this as such, he found that he really didn't mind it from Angel at all. He hadn't meant to start a scene with her, but it seemed that she'd started one with him. Yet he couldn't even call it topping from the bottom. He'd heard the wistfulness in her voice when she'd asked if he was going to spank her, almost like a shy little request that she wasn't sure she wanted him to hear, and he hadn't been able to resist.

  Not that he'd been able to resist much with Angel at the moment anyway. Sure, he'd been trying to distract her while they played, but he could have found any number of ways to do that. Instead he'd tormented them both by teasing her.

  It had also been a self-test on his control. How much could he touch her, tease her, before he couldn't resist moving beyond that?

  The view down her sweater had been very nice, although he had to admit he liked this view too. Her rounded ass was lifted by his thigh, her upper body laid out on his couch with her arms tucked underneath her chest. From the way her head was tilted he was pretty sure that she was watching him, but he didn't meet her eyes. Everything about her body language said that she was feeling shy and vulnerable and he didn't want her to retreat.

  No, he wanted to coax his lovely, little submissive out to play.

  While she was a lot more confident at Stronghold, he'd noticed that even there she wouldn't do anything until he made the first move. Here, in her regular clothes, alone with him and on his ground, she was obviously feeling even shyer.

  Shy wasn't normally a word he would have associated with Angel, but that was the vibe he was getting from her. And it made sense, he thought, trailing his fingers across the lower curve of her bottom, enjoying the way she made little squirming movements as he did so. In some ways, her going to Chained before Stronghold could also be interpreted as being shy in a way. Shy about showing her true self, about exposing herself.

  And the fact that she was doing so for him... well it just about took his breath away. He would treasure her submission all the more, not just because she was a strong woman and he loved it when a strong woman submitted, but because she was so sweetly, timidly hesitant about it. This wasn't just about proving that he was dominant to her, but about proving to her that he could be trusted with this revelation of herself, that he would protect and cherish her for it.

  So he leaned down and kissed her, just under the curve of her bottom where he'd spanked her a moment before, and then pulled her up onto his lap, leaning back against the couch, adjusting her so that his raging erection was caught between their bodies - which would be the most comfortable position for both of them.

  She burrowed into his shoulder, her arms still curled protectively around her chest, although she finally dropped the controller she'd been holding. The way she snuggled into his arms suggested more than just a desire to cuddle, she was trying to hide her face against him. He resisted the urge to chuckle and just enjoyed the fact that she obviously wanted to be held by him even though she felt vulnerable and embarrassed. That was always a good sign.

  "Good girl," he murmured into her hair, taking a deep breath. She smelled like berries, and she relaxed against him.

  Fingers touched his chest, stopped as if testing, and then slowly crept across towards his shoulder when he didn't say anything. The light touch, the hesitancy, was making his cock throb.

  "Are we going to finish the game?" she asked in a little voice.

  Funny to think that at one point in the past few weeks, he might have wondered if she was trying to play him. If she was just pretending to have that little tremor in her voice and body. Now the thought didn't even cross his mind except as a relief that he'd moved past that kind of suspicion about her.

  "Would you like to?" he asked, shifting her so that she was leaning back and he could look at her. Her face was flushed and her pupils were definitely dilated, although she was having trouble looking him in the eye. Adorable. "Or would you like to play?"

  Their eyes connected as heat flared between them and then her gaze skittered away again as her cheeks blushed even brighter. Adam chuckled.

  "Your safeword is Uncle," he reminded her, leaning down to capture her lips before she could respond.

  ******

  Hot and heavy, was the first thought that went through her mind as Adam shifted, his weight pressing her down onto the couch. She opened her mouth beneath his, fingers clutching at his shirt as he kissed her. Deeply. Thoroughly. Until she thought she might actually melt into the cushions.

  He'd maneuvered himself so that he was fully on top of her, one of his thighs between hers, and all that wonderful weight practically crushing her. Not that she wanted him to move. Who needed air anyway? She'd rather have all that hot male muscle pressed against her entire body.

  It felt like her body was on fire. Sure, it had been great finally getting a kiss from him last night, but that had been quick a
nd fleeting... not like this where she could actually feel his need pressing into her, his mouth demanding reciprocation. This was the kind of kissing that only came with real desire, that said she was far more than just a body to scene with. Angel could kiss like this for hours.

  Well, if she hadn't been so ridiculously primed and horny, then she could kiss like this for hours and be satisfied.

  As it was she felt like she might actually burst out of her skin, she was so needy, itching, burning up like a moth inside a bonfire...

  When Adam pulled his mouth away she suddenly realized that she was grinding against his thigh. She'd been completely unaware of it because she'd been so into the kissing. Immediately she went still, immediate embarrassment making itself known as her cheeks burst into flame - and not the good kind.

  She tried to duck her head down away from his gaze but he just chuckled and then pulled her sweater up.

  Oh... so that's why they'd stopped kissing.

  But he only pulled the sweater over her head, not over her arms, and she found herself pinned to the couch by her own clothing, unable to duck her body away so that he couldn't see her face. The expression on his as he looked down at her was pure masculine smugness, and even though she loved that he was looking at her like that she still couldn't control the impulse to hide.

  But he wouldn't let her.

  As if the flames in her panties needed any more fanning. Puh-leaze.

  How pathetic was it to be turned on by impromptu sweater bondage? It didn't even sound sexy. But being held immobile by the hot, dominating man that had one hand on her sweater above her head, pinning her arms in place, and was running the other hand down her bra strap? Yeah... that had her panting.

  "So... how far do you want us to play tonight?" Adam asked - as if she was supposed to be capable of coherent thought and speech when his fingers were playing along the edge of her bra. Her nipples were so hard she was surprised they weren't drilling right through the undergarment. "Angel? How far do you want to go?"

  Her face felt so red, she had to be blushing all the way to her roots. "You're the Dom, aren't you supposed to decide that?"