Breaking the Chain

by Golden Angel

  She looked around, hoping to see a woman she was at least familiar with and who would be a good ally if Marissa tried to follow her again. Because she could practically feel Marissa and her friend glaring. Leigh didn’t really feel like being called a homewrecker or a bitch again. While she got that Marissa felt that way, it wasn’t justified, but it still made her feel kind of guilty.

  A flash of ruby red caught her eye. Ellie, in a gorgeous scarlet PVC dress that was skin tight and hugged every inch of her curves, her dark hair up in a high ponytail, showing off the bare expanse of her shoulders and neck. The dress was a low cut V-neck, with plenty of cleavage, and came to mid-thigh on the skirt. On the street she would look like sex in high heels; here at Stronghold she was almost modestly dressed. She was making her way into the club alone, her eyes scanning the room.

  Leigh breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Be right back,” she tossed over her shoulder at Liam and Rick. Out of the corner of her eye she could see both of them perk up, automatically looking to see where she was going, and then relaxing when they saw who she was headed towards.

  As she approached, Ellie smiled at her, a little cautiously. “Hi Leigh.”

  “Hey, wanna go to the bathroom?”

  A little line formed in the center of Ellie’s forehead. “Why – oh. Sure.”

  She’d caught some kind of movement behind Leigh – probably Marissa or her friend.

  “Sure,” Ellie said again, giving Leigh a brilliant, much friendlier smile. “Sure, let’s go to the bathroom.”

  “Thank you,” Leigh said, fervently and quietly. Turning, she saw Marissa and her friend ducking their heads down, pretending they hadn’t just been looking at her. Ugh. It made her feel almost nauseous, the whole having to pretend that she didn’t see them looking, knowing that they were staring at her with malevolence whenever her back was turned. It was anxiety inducing. “So, uh, how are you?”

  She’d never really had the opportunity to speak with Ellie one on one. While she scened with Andrew on a regular basis and was friendly with everyone in the group, and the Doms seemed to watch out for her when she wasn’t scening with Andrew, she didn’t really spend a whole lot of time with them. Sharon was probably the closest to her, out of the girls in the group, which was kind of surprising since Ellie scened so often with Sharon’s best friend’s ex. Kate didn’t seem to have a problem with it.

  Of course, when Mike was with them, Ellie avoided the group entirely.

  “Same as always,” Ellie said, glancing at Leigh with another smile, this one a little more strained than before. They passed by the Lounge area and the little hairs on the back of Leigh’s neck felt like they were pricking her. She knew it was just her imagination, but still. “How are you and Jared?”

  “We’re great,” said Leigh, pushing her way past the door to the locker room. A couple other submissives were in there changing (or, really, undressing). They were talking to each other and barely glanced at Ellie and Leigh as the two walked past, towards the toilets. She lowered her voice a bit. “It can be um, a little uncomfortable sometimes when we’re here, but other than that, everything’s amazing. He’s amazing.”

  “Yeah, he’s a really great guy,” Ellie said as Leigh went into a stall. She fell quiet for a moment, but Leigh knew she was still there. When Ellie spoke again, her voice was even lower than Leigh’s had been when she’d answered Ellie’s question. “Um… you aren’t going to ask about me and Master Michael?”

  “Should I?”

  “Just about everyone else has.”

  Leigh made a face, even though she knew Ellie couldn’t see her. Poor Ellie. She didn’t seem like the type to want to draw attention, but because of the Andrew and Kate thing she was receiving attention from that and obviously some people had noticed Mike’s interest in her too.

  “You two are pretty good friends, right?” Ellie asked.

  “Yeah. I met him through Angel, but since I spend so much time with her I’ve spent a lot of time with him too by default. And he used to date one of our friends, but we don’t spend much time with Monica anymore. Well, Angel isn’t actually friends with her anymore anyway, and she and I have kind of drifted apart.” Mostly because Monica was an incredibly self-involved person and when Michael and Leigh had broken up, she’d made a show of mouthing sympathies, but she’d had no patience for Leigh’s depression and had taken Leigh moving in with Angel as an act of betrayal. They could have still gotten together, just not at Angel and Adam’s, but Monica had stopped texting back and never reached out to Leigh and, honestly, by now it was a bit of a relief. Leigh preferred spending her time with the Stronghold group. Realizing that she was babbling a bit, Leigh coughed and stood, flushing the toilet. Coming out of the stall, she couldn’t help but give Ellie a bit of an encouraging look as she made her way over to the sink to wash her hands. “He’s a really wonderful guy.”

  “I know,” Ellie murmured quietly. In the mirror, Leigh could see her; her eyes were averted as she almost looked as if she was staring off into space, seeing something that Leigh couldn’t. “He always has been.”

  Leigh’s hands jerked under the water. “You know him?”

  In the mirror, she could see the startled expression that went across Ellie’s face, for just a moment, as if she hadn’t realized that she’d spoken out loud. A blush crept into her cheeks.

  “We um, knew each other a long time ago. Or, well, I knew who he was. I doubt he’d remember me.” Ellie looked uncertain, stumbling over her words a little. “We rode the same bus in high school my freshman year, that’s all. I recognized him though. He hasn’t changed much. He’s always been a good guy.” The look that she gave Leigh was wary and Leigh was sure that there was more to the story but she wasn’t going to push Ellie on it. There was a reason that Ellie hadn’t told anyone, a reason that she avoided Mike, and a reason that she watched him whenever he wasn’t looking at her (which wasn’t all that often).

  She doubted that Michael didn’t remember Ellie, but she was surprised that he hadn’t mentioned he’d known her before. Then again, going by the way Ellie acted around him, maybe he’d realized she didn’t want anyone to know. Leigh bet Ellie had had a high school crush on him, although she didn’t understand why she might be embarrassed about that now… which meant that Leigh was still missing something. As much as she wanted to know, she didn’t feel like she could pump Ellie for information.

  Mike on the other hand… oh she was definitely going after him later.

  “There you are!” Kate came barging into the back room, Lexie and Sharon right behind her. The tall blonde gave Ellie a bright smile. “Hi Ell.”

  “Hello,” Ellie said, smiling back and giving Sharon and Lexie a wave.

  Kate was like a tall, blonde lily among smaller, less colorful flowers. While Leigh could match her for height, Ellie was several inches shorter than them, and Sharon and Lexie were even more petite. Between Ellie, Sharon, and Lexie, that was a lot of dark hair too. Leigh’s was a more medium brown, whereas Lexie’s was so dark it was almost blue-black and Ellie and Sharon weren’t that far behind. Even the scarlet of Ellie’s dress, the bright blue of Lexie’s bra, and the striking violet of Sharon’s corset seemed less brightly colorful next to Kate’s platinum hair, golden tanned skin, and orangey-yellow PVC dress. Trying not to sigh, Leigh looked down at her own green top and black leather shorts, feeling woefully mundane. But hey, not everyone could look like Barbie.

  “We’ve decided that we need a girls’ night,” Kate announced.

  “Right now?” Leigh asked in surprise. While she felt the immediate tug to take care of a friend in need, she’d really been looking forward to tonight with Jared. Discipline Night, when she hadn’t earned a punishment, was really Reward Night.

  “No, tomorrow night,” Lexie said. She held up her fingers to tick off the items of interest. “Drinks at Maria’s place at eight and then dancing at the Tap Room.”

  The restaurant Maria managed during the day was
a great meet-up place for happy hour, but it was also great for a night out since it was less than a block away from two bars that stayed open late and cleared out space for a dance floor around ten pm on the weekends.

  “Sure, I’m in,” Leigh said.

  “Awesomesauce. Ellie?” Sharon asked, turning expectantly towards the other woman, who looked startled to be included.

  “Oh um…”

  “You have to come!” Lexie begged, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. “You never come out with us. Pleaaaaase.”

  Ellie glanced at Kate, but Kate just nodded her head, smiling sincerely. “You know you want to. Just say yes.”

  Rolling her eyes upwards, Ellie threw up her hands. “Okay, fine, yes, I’ll come.”

  “Yay!” Lexie clapped her hands. “I’ll text everyone else.”

  “Kind of short notice,” Leigh commented, amused.

  “I know but I need it,” Lexie said, with a kind of frustrated sigh. “Patrick is driving me up the wall. He’s on this weird bent where he’s decided that I need to stop cursing so much. I need to go out and dance, and not have to follow any of his rules, and say whatever the fuck I want.”

  “Ooooo, I’m telling,” Sharon teased.

  Laughing, they all headed out of the room and Leigh was more relieved than ever that she’d asked Ellie to come with her. Marissa and her blonde friend were in the changing area. They were getting dressed to leave the club, but both of them paused to glare at Leigh. Yeah… just what she needed. She really hoped that Marissa would give it up soon. It was probably going to take longer than just a couple of weeks though.

  ******

  Coming into the club, relieved that Marissa and Caroline had already left for the night, Jared felt like he was walking on air as he joined Leigh and the others. Rick and Liam were standing between all the ladies, looking more like guard dogs than anything else – not surprising since there were three unattached submissives sitting with them. The Doms in the bar area kept looking over at Kate, Sharon, and Ellie. A couple of them even cast appreciative glances at Leigh and Lexie. Dumbasses were just asking for an ass kicking.

  Moving so that he actually stepped between that dumbass Mitch and his admiring gaze on Leigh’s ass (the blonde grinned and held up his hands in a placating manner, before giving Jared a congratulatory thumbs up and turning away), Jared just rolled his eyes. Mitch reminded him a lot of Chris in some ways. The baby Doms were a pretty good group of guys, they just still had a lot to learn – although he knew Mitch would never cross over the line and actually approach Leigh. Or Lexie.

  Still. Maybe he should see if Leigh would be willing to wear a collar while at Stronghold. Just to make it perfectly fucking clear that she was taken. In some ways, it was his own fault that some of the Doms still felt like it was okay to look. The ones who snuck peeks at Lexie were definitely more subtle about it. The thick leather choker around her neck with the D ring hanging from the front declared her to be absolutely off limits, even though it wasn’t a permanent collar. Patrick was having one made though, one that would be subtle enough that Lexie could wear it every day. In the meantime, she wore a thin leather choker during the day and the thick one whenever she was at Stronghold. Angel and Jessica also wore collars; Hilary and Maria didn’t. It wasn’t necessary at Stronghold, since it was a private club and the members always knew who was with someone – or quickly informed anyone who might have missed the gossip.

  Both Rick and Liam looked relieved as he approached. One more pair of eyes. Not that they would stop any of the women from scening, if that’s what they wanted to do, but they all felt responsible. Every so often, someone would manage to sneak past the measures Patrick had in place to keep assholes out. No one wanted to be the one responsible for letting one of their friends (or one of their girlfriend’s friends) go off with a Dom who ended up hurting her. Jared was kind of surprised that Olivia wasn't there, hovering.

  Since Jared worked there, he was more familiar with all the members than either Rick or Liam.

  Although, as he approached, he discovered that their relief was for more than the extra supervision of another dominant.

  "Baths can give you yeast infections too," Sharon was saying as he walked up, causing the expression on his face to go through a very strange turnabout. "Especially bubble baths, you have to watch out for those."

  "I've been taking bubble baths for years and never had that problem," Ellie argued, giggling as she sipped her drink. Jared was a little surprised to see her there too, but she was standing next to Kate, the two of them looking completely comfortable together, and more relaxed than he'd seen her in a long time.

  Coughing to cover his discomfort, Jared wedged himself between Leigh and Rick, slinging his arm around her shoulders while he leaned towards his friend, keeping his voice low. "Why are they talking about this?"

  The look Rick gave him was pained. Across the table, Liam looked nearly cross-eyed with a desire to flee. "I have no idea," Rick whispered back. "They started out with periods and things escalated quickly."

  Making a face, Jared turned to Leigh. Smiling, her eyes full of laughter, she looked up at him. That's when he realized the women were probably really enjoying making poor Rick and Liam squirm. Little brats. No wonder Lexie kept snickering.

  "Are you married to this conversation or would you like to head out of here?" he asked, just a hint of pleading in his voice.

  Thankfully, Leigh was a sweet and benevolent girlfriend. "Let's get out of here," she said, pressing her side against him, her eyes lighting up from within, obviously eager to get to her reward for being a good girl tonight.

  Jared was eager to give it to her. Rewards were much more fun than discipline. He'd gotten a soft leather paddle with a soft, fuzzy side earlier this week which he was looking forward to trying out on her butt tonight. Leigh was definitely a convert to spankings, even if she needed a much gentler hand than her best friend did.

  They said their round of goodbyes and headed out to the lobby. While they were waiting for Freddy to get their coats, Jared cleared his throat, giving Leigh a sidelong look. She raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for whatever it was he wanted to say.

  "I was wondering... would you be willing to wear a collar when we're here at the club?" he asked, figuring he might as well just go for it. Leigh appreciated bluntness so there was no point in dancing around the issue.

  Her fingers went to her throat as her eyes opened, wonderingly. "A collar?"

  "Nothing big, like what Lexie has. But something..." He stroked his fingers down her arm. "That way even when I'm working, it's like I'm there looking out for you."

  Plus it would give his possessive inclinations a break. Two birds with one stone and all that. She could be in the club and yet his mark would be on her, ensuring that everyone knew she was off limits.

  The way she smiled up at him, with pure joy, was just the icing on the cake.

  "I'd love to wear a collar."

  "Ooo honey!" Freddy squealed as he came out of the closet (No pun intended, Jared thought to himself. Freddy was submissive and flamboyant, but decidedly straight). "You'll look gorgeous in a collar, you have such a long pretty neck!" Absolutely gleeful, Freddy beamed at both of them. Despite the fact that Freddy hadn't been in a relationship for the past two years he'd been working at the club, and he hadn't even had a steady Domme in that time, he was always so happy to see people getting together. Not for the first time, Jared wished that there were more Dommes to go around Stronghold; Freddy deserved the same joy in a relationship that he was so happy to watch others receive.

  ******

  The leather paddle left delicious pink swaths of color on Leigh's cheeks, which Jared then delighted in rubbing with the soft, furry side of the paddle. On Leigh's sensitive skin, it was even more arousing than Jared had realized it would be, going by her moans and soft sounds of excited arousal. She was spread over his lap, her legs and upper body resting on his bed, while he took his time spanking and rub
bing her buttocks with the paddle.

  Dipping his fingers between her legs, smug satisfaction filled him as he found her pussy literally gushing with cream.

  "I think you might be turning into a spank-o," he teased, pumping his fingers between her plump pussy lips, making her gasp and tighten around his digits. Despite the awkwardness of the angle, he used his other hand to rub the soft side of the paddle over her sensitive cheeks again while he fingered her.

  "I don't know about that," Leigh said, panting, but somehow sounding almost shy. "I think I just like the way you do it."

  A warm feeling tightened in his chest, making him almost speechless for a moment. There was no word he could use for what he was feeling other than joy. Joy in her submission, joy that she wanted him the way that she did, joy that she wanted this from him and no one else. Clearing his throat, he knew that his voice sounded gruffer than usual.

  "That's because I'm the best at it," he replied, twisting his fingers inside of her as her slick walls spasmed.

  "Yes, Sir." The sultry, sexy tone of voice went straight to his dick, as if the damned thing wasn't already aching.

  "Jesus, what you do to me," he muttered as he pulled her up off of his lap to give her a thorough kiss. She kissed him back enthusiastically, already turning slightly, obviously expecting him to roll over atop her, but tonight Jared had other plans.

  Leigh looked at him in surprise as he lay down on the bed on his back, his cock bouncing off of his hard stomach. Grinning at her, he cradled his head in his hands and nodded at his erection. "Go ahead and climb on, little girl."

  Her lips twisted into a pouting moue. "I'm not really a fan of being on top."

  "Why not?" he asked, genuinely surprised that she wasn't more excited about being offered the opportunity to be on top. A lot of submissives saw it as an exciting treat, having even that small illusion of control for a little bit.

  "I just have trouble getting off in that position."

  He raised his eyebrow at her. "You've also told me that you have trouble getting off on being eaten out."