Mastering Lexie (Stronghold Book 4)

by Golden Angel

  The interruptions to his day, when he was trying to plan and shop, were not exactly appreciated. While it was always nice to know that his friends cared, he could have done without the constant blare of his phone.

  For Lexie he'd bought several new toys, including a paddle that had the word "BRAT" carved out of the center. It would leave the word imprinted on her skin when he used it. He'd stopped by Stronghold, just to check in on the job that the cleaning crew had done, and to sit down and revise a standard contract to suit him and Lexie. A relationship contract was always more complex than a club contract, but he wanted one in place anyway, so that the rules and guidelines for the domination and submission part of their relationship was clearly written out and agreed upon.

  He kept the standard one on his computer at work, since he never needed a contract at home, and it took him several hours to get it worded to his satisfaction. Mostly outlining infractions and punishments, as well as duties and rewards. Lexie could negotiate, of course, on any points she didn't agree with, but he had it written out to exactly what he wanted. It was the kind of contract that he'd only put together twice before, because most of the time the kind of woman that was willing to be a full-time submissive was actually too submissive for him. He needed someone who was still willing to stand up for herself, who would sass at him, and occasionally act the brat so that he had an excuse to punish her. Not that he wouldn't spank or whip her anyway, in a scene, but he needed the satisfaction that he got from doling out real punishments as well. Lexie would strive to please him, but she'd never lose herself in a quest for perfection - her mouth would always get her into trouble.

  One of his previous girlfriends had completely let her personality be subsumed into her submission, which was not at all what he had wanted. She was very happy now, as a slave with a Master that she'd met at Stronghold, but she hadn't been for him. The other had taken one look at the contract, the clearly written details, and realized that his expectations were more than she was willing to give.

  Some small part of him still feared Lexie would do that, even though she knew the kind of man he was, but he wasn't going to hold back, because he'd lose her in the end anyway if he did that. During her training she'd shown herself to be willing to submit, not just in a scene but also outside of it; he just had to hope that she'd enjoyed it as much as he had.

  Maybe that was part of the reason he'd taken so long to write the contract, and make sure everything was in there. Because he didn't want her to be surprised by anything. Of course, the constant interruptions from his friends hadn't helped either.

  On his way home, he picked up a couple carry-out pizzas, not really feeling up to anything more complex. Besides, he wanted to focus on Lexie tonight, not on cooking and cleaning.

  By the time she finally got to his condo, he was regretting not having specified a time. She was later than he'd expected, and he'd ended up putting the pizzas in the oven to keep them warm.

  "Hey, sorry," she said, walking in and sounding a bit breathless, as if she'd been running. "I meant to be here earlier, but I got caught up talking to mom. We're invited over for dinner sometime this week." The big smile she flashed at him did nothing to reassure him. He groaned.

  "You told her, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

  "Of course I did," she said, putting down her bag and kicking off her shoes. Patrick scowled, picking them up and putting them on the shoe rack. That was something that was definitely going to be addressed once she read the contract. "They'd want to know. Dad's grumbling, but accepting. Mom's thrilled and claiming that she's always known we were going to 'end up together.'" She used her fingers to make little quotation marks in the air, grinning up at him, as if amused by her mother's remarks.

  Damn she was cute.

  Reaching out, Patrick grabbed a hold of her and pulled her against him so fast that she squeaked, a sound that he immediately muffled with his lips. It had actually taken him a minute to remember that he could kiss her now. The new world order was going to take some time to get used to.

  Her lips parted and she welcomed him into her mouth eagerly, her hands pressing against his chest and kneading her fingers into his muscles. Almost immediately, his cock started to harden. As tempting as it was to have his way with her right here, there were some other things to get out of the way first.

  Ending the kiss, he spun her around so that she was facing the wall and pushed her forward. Automatically, she threw her hands up to keep herself from falling.

  "What-?"

  "Arch your back," he said, putting one of his hands over hers and sliding the other down her back. The green sweater she was wearing was warm enough that she hadn't needed a coat, and it was soft under his hand as he made his way down to her jean-clad butt. Blinking up at him, her pupils dilated as she realized what he wanted, and her back arched, her legs spread slightly to accommodate the position.

  THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

  The sound of his hand coming down on fabric wasn't nearly as appealing as flesh, but it would do for now.

  "You should have warned me you were contacting all of our friends today. Not to mention your parents. I wouldn't have said not to, but I would have appreciated a heads up."

  Lexie squealed as his hand came down particularly hard on each cheek in turn. "Sorry! I didn't even think of it... how did you know I told our friends anyway? I didn't tell all of them, just the girls."

  That made him laugh as he landed one last swat on her upturned rear before he released her hands from under his own. "Well, all of the girls told their boyfriends, who told anyone who is single, and then they all either called or texted me."

  "Oh!" Lexie blushed as she straightened up, one of her hands flying to cover her mouth. She managed to look embarrassed even while she was smiling in amusement. "Wow... I know you guys joke about the gossiping thing, but... damn. I had no idea it was that bad. All of them?"

  "Olivia was the first to call, and then I heard from Andrew, Adam, Justin, Chris, Liam, Rick and Jared. In that order."

  "I'm sorry." Something flashed in her eyes, and she moved closer to him, putting her hands on his chest again. "Can I make it up to you?"

  Little seductress. The spanking hadn't done anything but make her horny, which was fine since he hadn't planned it as a punitive spanking anyway. What he was about to do now was much more in the line of discipline.

  "Not right now, come on, the pizza is in the oven to keep it warm, and I'm hungry."

  That got a little pout, but she didn't protest, even though she looked more than willing to put off food in place of sex. Although she was going to be disappointed on that end tonight, if that's what she thought she was here for.

  Patrick settled them onto his couch with their dinners and turned on the television. "Normally I advocate sitting at the dining room table, but whenever I do pizza I feel like it's better in front of the tv."

  "No arguments from me, although I was wondering," she teased, and he grinned. Despite the fact that Lexie had been over many times for dinner, he was pretty sure he'd never eaten anywhere but the table with her unless there were too many people to fit. "I spend most of my time eating in front of a television."

  That admission got a frown from him. "Don't get used to doing it here."

  While he completely understood doing so at home, if she was eating alone, here he was usually going to insist on conversation. It was the kind of thing he saw as an occasional treat, but not something to be done every day.

  Lexie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Sir."

  "You're going to have to work on your respect," he said mildly.

  "Yes, Sir," she sassed back, although she didn't roll her eyes this time. A small smile curved his lips as he reached out with one arm to yank her into him, settling her in the crook of his arm. After a bit of debate, they settled on watching the third Expendables movie. He'd wanted action, Lexie had wanted comedy, and the movie was over the top ridiculous, so it satisfied both of them.

  Once she was done
eating, however, Lexie became a bit of a problem. Not anything overt, but she was definitely trying to get his attention in a sexual way. Her fingers caressed his knee. She shifted so that his hand over her shoulder came close to touching her breast. The fingers on his leg made their way slowly up his thigh, still caressing.

  Firmly, Patrick reached down and slid his fingers through hers, stopping their quest.

  "Pay attention to the movie, Pixie," he murmured into her hair, giving her hand a squeeze.

  "Or what?" she asked. He wasn't sure if she was being a brat on purpose, or if she was just truly curious. Pushing the boundaries a bit was to be expected, especially for Lexie who was used to getting her own way. She was the kind of submissive who was just dying for someone to tell her no, often and firmly.

  "Or I'll pause it, turn you over my knee, spank you, and then we'll finish watching the movie. Or you can just finish watching it and get a reward."

  He smiled. Even though he couldn't see her expression, he could practically sense the gears turning in her head as she decided what she wanted to do. Part of her would want to keep up her current behavior, just because he'd told her not to, but a spanking without any pleasure afterwards would just leave her hot and bothered, and she knew that. However, curiosity over what she'd get as a reward for good behavior should tempt her.

  After a minute of contemplation, she relaxed against him, and he knew that she'd chosen to behave.

  "Good girl," he said, running his thumb over the soft skin of her hand. Even though he trusted her to behave herself now, he found he still liked holding her hand. There was no pressing reason to relinquish it. Lexie made a soft, happy sound at the accolade and snuggled even more closely into him. Resting one hand on the back of her neck, he started to massage her neck and shoulders, and she automatically relaxed even more into him. This was something that he’d always liked doing for her, partly because she always became soft and sweet when she was relaxed.

  In some ways, she could be controlled merely through her desire to please, which seemed at odds with her contrariness, but that's what he liked about her. She had both facets, in full measure. Truly disappointing him would cut her, but she'd make him work for her submission as well. There was nothing easy or simple about his Pixie.

  Just having her curled up with him and watching a movie was a pleasure in and of itself. Did he want to fool around on the couch? Fuck yes he did. But he also wanted her to know that this wasn't just about sex. They'd been friends for so long, he wanted to make sure they built a romantic relationship apart from the sex, rather than just adding sex to the status quo. Plus, he couldn't stop himself from exerting his dominance in all aspects, which meant that he decided when they had sex, not her.

  Not that he wouldn't occasionally let her seduce him, but it would be up to him, not her.

  That would have to come after she read the contract. Which, to her obvious dismay, was the reward he presented her with when the movie was over.

  Narrowing her eyes at him, she pursed her mouth into a little moue. "I think we need to work on your definition of 'reward.'"

  He chuckled. Sassy brat. Handing her a pen, he leaned down and gave her a kiss, letting it linger a bit longer than he'd originally intended, just because he liked kissing her so damn much. Every kiss seemed special, exciting, because it had been taboo for so long. Each one was something to be tasted and savored.

  "Read through it - thoroughly - and sign it, and I'll be able to give you a much more satisfactory reward," he said, picking up the dishes they'd eaten their pizza on. Lexie sighed and nodded, and he paused, giving her a stern look. "I mean it, Lex, go through it thoroughly. Use the pen to mark anywhere you have a question or a problem or you'd like to negotiate something different. I seriously doubt you'll be content with the entire thing, but if you just say okay and sign it, I will hold you to it."

  "Yes, Sir," she said, with a touch of wariness and quite a bit more respect than the last two times she'd said it. Now she was looking at the contract like it might jump up and bite her, and he had to stifle another chuckle.

  Retreating to the kitchen to do the dishes killed two birds with one stone; he wasn't the type to leave food or dishes out overnight, plus it gave Lexie the chance to look at the contract without him looming over her.

  ******

  Good grief, how many pages was this thing? Lexie had seen some of the standard contracts that the patrons of Stronghold used, but this one was way longer. Then again, she was pretty sure that the contracts she'd seen had only pertained to behavior inside the club and weren't used outside of it. Just by glancing through the pages, she could see that this contract was for a relationship, not just for club conduct.

  Holy shit.

  When Patrick had said he was serious about her, he'd really meant it. He wouldn't have given her something like this otherwise. Her heart did a little tap dance of happiness inside of her chest, and it was hard not to jump around and squeal with all the joy that was bubbling up inside of her.

  Part of her was tempted to just sign it and live up to whatever he'd written down. She knew that he'd never include anything that would hurt or injure her, and she wanted to prove to him that she could do anything he'd put into the contract. On the other hand, that was a stupid, immature thought, and she knew what a controlling bastard he was. She wouldn't put it past him to have included some seriously ridiculous shit that he would hold her to if she didn't read it carefully. Nothing malicious, just super-controlling. The other Stronghold girls hadn't signed contracts like this, but that was because they kept the BDSM stuff to the bedroom. She knew that Jessica and Angel both had club contracts, which were only enforced when they were actually at Stronghold.

  One look at the first page of the contract in her hand and it was obvious Patrick truly did intend for it to be a full-time thing.

  Lexie scowled as she circled two of the points. "I am not going without panties at all times and with a butt plug whenever I'm not with you!"

  "Mark it down, and we'll talk about it," he called back from the kitchen.

  Oh hell yes they would talk about it. Crazy control freak. A tiny smile curved her lips though. If she'd ever wondered what Patrick's fantasies were, they were now all laid out right in front of her. Most of it she was okay with. There was definitely some stuff included that she would count more as domestic discipline than kink, but honestly that appealed to her. He wanted her to keep his place as neat as it always was and her place completely clean as well. That was fine. So was the part about letting him know whenever she was going to go out with the girls and where she was going to be when she wasn't at work or with him.

  A lot of it was common sense or common courtesy, but obviously Patrick preferred to have it all spelled out. No drinking more than two drinks unless someone else was driving, and if she did drink two drinks, she had to wait an hour after the second one before she could drive (not a problem since when she was driving she never drank more than one drink). No smoking, which was something she rarely indulged in anyway, and she had no problem making that not at all. Keep him updated on her schedule. No sleepovers without permission. No lying. No scening with other Doms. Always wear her collar when she was at Stronghold. No masturbating or touching herself without permission. He also had a separate section for rules during vacations with him and vacations taken without him. Mostly involving nudity and toys.

  Then there were the things that made her shake her head, but didn't bother her - like him wanting to pick out what she was going to wear to Stronghold whenever they went. At least he didn't want to pick out her daily clothes, although he did include a part about being able to veto any of her regular outfits that he didn't want her wearing out. She also had a curfew of eleven o'clock on weeknights. Part of her wanted to protest that one, just on principle, but on the other hand they both knew that she sometimes stayed out way too late and ended up exhausted at work the next day. Patrick knew because she'd called out of work before at Stronghold, because she was just to
o beat to come in after a late night and a long day at the office. He would control all sexual interactions between them, period. That one seemed a bit vague to her, but it was nothing less than she'd expected. She had a feeling that trying to seduce him would be considered a sexual interaction; probably wasn't going to stop her though.

  The things she circled were the ones that were just too much. Like not wearing panties - ever. Like wearing a butt plug whenever he wasn't with her. Waking him up every day with a blow job. Not that she didn't like the idea, and she was certainly willing to do it quite often, but every single day? No. She was also not going to wait for him every time she had to take a shower, and he was not paying for her waxes. She could pay to get her own pussy waxed, thank you. Maybe that was a weird line to draw, considering that she didn't mind so many of his other strictures on her life, but she wanted to pay for her own beauty treatments.

  He'd also put in the exceptions to the rules - like when she was on period or if she was sick. There were separate rules for being sick, which made her wonder if he thought she didn't know how to take care of herself when she wasn't feeling well. On the other hand, she was perfectly happy to let him pamper her when she was sick and wait on her hand and foot, which appeared to be what he wanted. Strangely, he hadn't included anything about when he got sick, but she knew that she'd take care of him regardless. Silly man.

  Punishments were also lined out, everything from spanking to a caning (for the worst offenses) and all that was in between. It was clear that the survey she'd done for Stronghold had been taken into consideration, because everything was within the limits she'd outlined in the survey. Even when he was setting out all the rules he wanted her to follow, he was still thinking about her as well. Which was really sweet, when it came right down to it. Most infractions would be punished before bedtime every night, which would add to her anxiousness as he counted them up throughout the day, unless he thought something needed an immediate consequence.