Pieces of Stronghold

by Golden Angel

  "I... can't... breathe!" She managed to gasp out with a Herculean effort. "Make... them... stop!"

  Turning his head, Jared grinned at her dementedly. He was drunk as a skunk and the most uncoordinated, awkward, arrhythmic dancer Leigh had ever seen... Lexie had coaxed Patrick onto the dance floor. The combination of the two of them bopping, out of time with the music, their arms flailing like circus clowns, their knees splaying, while they humped the air was just... just...

  Leigh gave up the fight and collapsed into a puddle of giggles on the floor. She wasn't the only one either. Kate, her friend Sharon, and Ellie were in a small heap only a few feet away. One of them was laughing so hard she was snorting every couple of seconds, which just made everyone around them laugh even harder.

  It was like watching two drunk roosters performing the most unattractive mating dance in the history of man. The fact that both men were actually incredibly hot in no way made up for the travesty of their dance moves.

  About half the room was dying laughing, the other half was hanging back and pretending there was nothing to see... probably those most worried about how pissed Patrick was going to be when he sobered up. Somehow, Leigh didn't think Jared would be all that angry. He was an intimidating guy, but he wasn't as uptight as Patrick was. Lexie was going to be so in for it tomorrow.

  Right now, the pint-sized troublemaker was laughing so hard that her face was cherry red, standing across the circle of space that had opened up so that no one was accidentally injured by all the wildly swinging limbs. Jessica, Hilary, and Maria were with her, all of them hysterical with laughter. Chris was laughing just as hard while Justin had his hands over his face, shaking his head as if it was too painful for him to watch. Rick was staring with his jaw dropped, and Liam had his mouth covered, although it didn't really hide the fact that he was laughing his ass off. Jake had shown up just in time for the show and he looked torn between getting them off the dance floor and just letting them… go.

  A flash of red caught Leigh's eye, and she managed to tear her eyes away from the debacle, her desire to see Olivia's reaction stronger than her desire to watch more of the tragedy of movement being played out on the dance floor. Her eyes widened. The Domme had gotten her phone, a huge no-no in the club on any given day, and she was holding it up.

  There was going to be videotape evidence.

  Holy shit... Lexie was in so much trouble!

  ******

  Jared knew he was drunk, he just didn't really care. He felt like a happy drunk. A loose and free drunk. A drunk that was absolutely fucking living on Cloud 9. He was aware that he'd made a fool out of himself tonight, he just didn't give a fuck. He felt too good.

  Especially because he'd made Leigh smile and laugh, all night. The earlier moroseness of their conversation had melted away, and she was just as free and happy as he was.

  She was also willing to dance with him and keep him on beat. Which he knew he sucked at when he'd been drinking. However, the beat didn't seem all that important when he was grinding on her gorgeous ass, doing his best to remind himself to keep his hands to himself. Well, mostly. He did take the opportunity to caress her hips, her back, her sides... but no boobs and no groping that ass.

  "You wanna go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?" he asked, yelling the words into her ear over the music and other voices. The closer it got to midnight, the louder the club was getting.

  "Like on a date?"

  "Yeah... a date." He slid his palms down to her hips.

  "Yes!" Turning towards him, her breasts brushed against his chest as he wedged his thigh between her legs.

  They were practically humping each other on the dance floor. Or he was humping her. Who the fuck cared? There was humping. Life was good.

  ******

  Date date date date.

  She had a date! Date, dinner, whatever. Jared liked her! She liked him too. She liked being happy.

  Happy was good. Happy was very good. When was the last time she'd really felt this happy? She couldn't remember. Although that might have something to do with the booze.

  Heat washed over her as she pressed up against the very large bulge in Jared's pants, reminding her that it had been a long time since she'd had sex too. Not that she was going to hop into bed with Jared.

  No sex. No drama.

  But a date was good.

  Maybe sex eventually. Her body was sooooo on board with that idea.

  "TEN!"

  Leigh jerked her head around. Was it that time already?

  "NINE!" Jared's voice boomed in her ear.

  "EIGHT!" This time she yelled out with everyone, jumping up and down with excitement as she watched the slowly descending glowing ball on the stage. Andrew had done good work.

  Hilary was bouncing up and down in the circle of Liam's arms and shouting out the numbers with excitement.

  "SEVEN!"

  To Leigh's right, Rick and Maria were already kissing, ignoring the countdown around them. On the other side of them, several submissives were sidling closer to Jake.

  "SIX!"

  Justin and Chris jostled each other, each trying to get into position to be the first to kiss Jessica, laughing as she squealed and tried to get away from both of them.

  "FIVE!"

  Olivia caught Freddy sneaking up on her and pushed him towards Mistress Lisa instead.

  "FOUR!"

  Swinging Lexie up in his arms, Patrick stumbled and almost dropped her before he regained his balance.

  "THREE!"

  Andrew and Kate bumped into each other, blushed, and froze.

  "TWO!"

  Behind Ellie, Mike appeared, a triumphant smirk on his face.

  "ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

  Spinning Ellie around, Mike landed a kiss on her open lips as she gasped in surprise. Andrew leaned down and gave Kate a surprisingly gentle kiss on her forehead before they moved away from each other.

  And Jared wrapped one arm around Leigh, bent her back, and lowered his lips to hers, rendering her completely uninterested in everything else that was going on around them. His lips were warm, dry, and he tasted like spices and whiskey when his tongue slid into her mouth. The press of his hard body against hers had her shuddering with needy arousal as her hormones flared to life.

  When he finally pulled back, both of them were hot, flushed and seriously bothered.

  "Happy New Year," he said, so quietly that she almost didn't hear him.

  "Happy New Year."

  Epilogue - Jared & Leigh

  The sound of his doorbell ringing sliced through Jared's hangover. He groaned as he managed to roll himself off his couch. Apparently he hadn't made it to the bedroom last night. Not surprising. It had been all he could do to stumble from the taxi into his apartment. He'd been drunk off his ass by the end of the party; buzzed on a high of alcohol, adrenaline, horniness, and happiness. Not something he was used to.

  Just the idea of starting something up with another woman was strange to him. He liked Leigh and liked spending time with her, he'd fucking loved the way she'd felt in his arms when they'd kissed... but it was still weird to even think of being with someone else. Not that he'd been entirely celibate during the many breaks he and Marissa's relationship had taken, but he'd never taken the chance on opening up his emotions.

  Never asked a girl out on an actual date.

  When he opened the door to his apartment, all of his good feelings from the night before, which had persisted despite the hangover, were swept away as he found himself looking at the reason why he hadn't opened himself up.

  Because she always came back.

  Like herpes.

  "What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice rough and angry.

  Marissa looked up at him with what he called her sad eyes. Her needy eyes. "Happy New Year to you too," she said, her voice gently chiding, as if saying that he didn't need to be rude. Making him feel a little guilty for being so brusque.

  "Happy New Year. What are you doing here? What time
is it?" The second question was more to himself than to her. His brain wasn't functioning entirely correctly. How much sleep had he gotten?

  "It's ten o'clock. I'm here... can I come in?"

  His head pounded harder. He wanted to say no, but he didn't. Because whatever she had to say, he didn't want to bother his neighbors with it.

  Letting her walk past him, the familiar scent of her perfume wafting up to his nose, Jared tried to get his wayward emotions under control. He felt raw. Exposed. For some reason, despite what he'd said to Leigh, he'd really started to hope that Marissa was going to stay away for good this time. For the first time, he'd broken up with her. Successfully. She'd been pissed and hurt, but she'd gone, with only the occasional text or email to remind him that she existed. And she'd been gone for months, longer than she'd ever been out of his life before.

  He should have known that the feeling of doom hanging over his head wasn't just a fantasy. Marissa had never been able to go very long on her own. She needed a caretaker.

  But did it really have to be him?

  As soon as she was inside, she started unbuttoning her coat.

  "Stop," he said, holding out his hand as he shut the door behind him. "You aren't going to be here for that long. Just tell me what you want and go."

  The hurt look she gave him made his stomach twinge. He didn't like being mean. He didn't like hurting her. But he wanted to get whatever was about to happen over with.

  "I want what I've always wanted. You." Her expression was earnest as she dropped to her knees, spreading them apart, with the backs of her hands on the tops of her thighs, ignoring the awkward folds of her coat. "I've missed you so much. I realized, I really can't be without you." Tears sprang into her hazel eyes, tugging at him. "I know you were at the club with someone else last night.” God, he hated how fast club gossip got around. “It made me realize how far I'm willing to go to not lose you completely. You know you still want me, I heard she even kind of looks like me."

  "That's not true."

  It just wasn't entirely false either. They had the same slender build, long legs and curvy hips with fantastic asses. They both had long hair that was a similar color. But that was just Jared's type. It didn't mean anything.

  Did it?

  "It doesn't matter," she said, her voice pleading. "What matters is that I still love you. I still want to spend my life with you. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. You can spank me when you want to. I won't safe word."

  "It's not that I want to spank you," he argued, a familiar argument. Like a vocal rut that he couldn't get out of. "I want you to agree to be disciplined."

  "I agree," she said immediately, the words coming out in a rush. Now that was entirely new. Definitely not part of the well-worn tracks of their usual arguments. "You can do whatever you want. I'd rather have you smothering me than be without you at all."

  The little wrench in his gut made him want to punch something. Marissa was always pointing out that he was smothering. That no modern woman would want a man like him. But Patrick was pretty much on par with how controlling he was, and Lexie was fine with it. She didn't just tolerate it, which was what Marissa was pretty much suggesting.

  On the other hand, this was the first time ever that Marissa had ever seemed willing to do even that much. The first time she'd ever agreed to being disciplined. It was also begrudgingly... but if she felt like she needed him enough to do that...

  It was suddenly hard to breathe, like all of his air was being sucked away into a vortex that he couldn't pull himself out of.

  Last night, Leigh had told him what she'd always thought she'd wanted to hear from her ex. Now his ex was in front of him, on her knees, saying all the right words... not just the meaningless platitudes of love and neediness that she usually offered, but all things he never thought he'd hear from her. It spoke volumes about how desperate she must have felt when she'd heard he was at Stronghold with someone else. Someone that wasn't just a scene or a prop.

  He hadn't been using Leigh as a replacement for Marissa, had he?

  They'd been leaning on each other, but...

  The throbbing in his head was making it hard for him to think.

  Happy fucking New Year.

  ******

  Maria slid the glasses, one a time, onto the table, before passing the tray off to the cocktail waitress and taking her own seat.

  This wasn't exactly the dinner that Leigh had planned for today, but at least she wasn't alone either. The girls were there with her, all looking about as glum as she felt. It was really sweet of them to all come out, instead of being with their men, and it made her feel a little bit more cheerful than she had earlier in the day. Maybe Angel had been right to drag her out.

  "Okay," Olivia said, her grey eyes steely. "Everyone has a drink now. Spill."

  Leigh had refused to talk about it until everyone was there and had a beverage. Mostly because she hadn't wanted to go through it all more than once and also because she wanted a drink for the inevitable reaction.

  "Jared and I were supposed to go out tonight, but he called around lunchtime and cancelled."

  The girls all made disappointed noises, but Angel scowled and elbowed Leigh. "That's not the important part. Tell them the important part."

  She made a face at her bestie. She didn't need the prodding; it wasn't like they wouldn't find out eventually anyway. "Apparently Marissa showed up at his apartment early this morning, and they talked, and he said he needed some time and space to think."

  "Mother fucking jizz trough!" Olivia slapped her palm flat against the table. Wide eyes and gaping mouths greeted her as she looked up. She scowled. "What? I fucking hate that bitch."

  "Jizz trough? What is a jizz trough?" Jessica asked, her voice incredulous.

  Thankfully, the bar was completely empty other than their table, because the bartender and cocktail servers were staring at Olivia after that outburst. Maria was one of the managers of the restaurant, so they probably wouldn't be kicked out regardless, but still.

  "No!" Hilary covered her ears, squeezing her eyes shut as if that would somehow help. "I don't want to know!"

  "Kind of like cum dumpster?" Angel mused. "Yet somehow more graphic and fouler?"

  Hilary hummed under her breath, obviously trying to block out the noise.

  "So are they getting back together?" Maria asked, getting right to the heart of the situation as usual. Hilary stopped humming, looking up and proving that she could hear what they were saying despite her efforts.

  "I don't know." Leigh shrugged. "He didn't say they were back together, he just said he needed space."

  It didn't hurt exactly. It couldn't because, despite the kiss last night, it wasn't like they were really more than friends. But she did feel disappointed. Kind of an “opportunity lost” disappointment more than anything else. On the other hand, she understood more than anyone else at the table exactly how hard it could be to break away from an ex. She could only imagine what Marissa might have said - or done - this morning.

  Honestly, she felt more envious than hurt when she thought about what Marissa might have done.

  Leigh hadn't gotten the chance to do anything with Jared, aside from that extremely hot kiss last night. Although that was probably a good thing, she might be more hurt now if they had. Or maybe not. Because she understood, she really did... and looking around the table, she could tell from everyone else's reactions that they didn't.

  "Are you going to fight for him?" Lexie asked.

  "Yes! You should," Jessica said, chiming in like an eager cheerleader.

  "Please, please fight for him," Olivia said immediately on top of the question, turning her piercing silvery gaze on Leigh. She had the urge to immediately agree. Despite the "please," Olivia's plea sounded a lot more like marching orders.

  "What do I fight?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink. "It's not like we'd started a relationship or anything."

  "You'd started something," Hilary said. "You guys have been spendi
ng a lot of time together for months."

  "Yeah, but we only recently started hanging out just the two of us. We didn't even kiss till last night. I can't fight for something that's not there."

  "Fight for your friend," Olivia said. "Fight to keep him from the Great Evil."

  Hilary eyed Olivia suspiciously. "You know, you haven't said anything like that about Andrew's ex."

  Next to Leigh, Angel stiffened, as if she was going to speak up to defend Kate. Fortunately, Olivia beat her to it.

  "That's because Kate isn't evil. If I could force her and Andrew into a room together to work out whatever issues they both have hanging around, I would. Andrew obviously needs some closure, and I think Kate does too. Marissa, on the other hand, is a soul-sucking thunder-cunt and I don't want her on the same continent as Jared much less in the same room. If they get back together, I will... I don't know what I'll do but it won't be pretty." Her gaze swung back to Leigh. "You want me to keep things pretty, don't you?"

  "If he wants me, I shouldn't need to fight for him," Leigh said. She'd done a lot of fighting for her relationship when she was with Michael. The idea of fighting for a non-relationship, against seven years of love and baggage, did not appeal.

  "I can't believe he did that to you," Hilary said, scowling. "I thought... well, I just thought he was better than that."

  "He didn't really do anything..."

  "He asked you out on a date and then canceled because his ex showed up. That's leading you on if nothing else," Hilary argued. Next to her, Jessica nodded. Angel was nodding too. She was plenty pissed, Leigh knew, although she'd been covering it up because Jared was friends with everyone else.

  Great. All she needed was all of them banding together against Jared.

  "He didn't lead me on. I totally understand where he's coming from, I would have done the same thing."

  "Seriously?" Angel looked at her like she was demented.

  And that was exactly why Leigh had been more comfortable talking about this kind of stuff with Jared. He got it. Angel was there for Leigh, like a rock, and Leigh needed that desperately, but there were some things that Angel just didn't understand. She couldn't, because her experiences were completely different from Leigh's, and imagining herself in the same situation, she always imagined herself handling it differently.