by Golden Angel
Her mouth hanging open, Maria tried to stamp down the jealousy that was suddenly flooding her stomach. Jessica had had sex with Rick? Dammit, she liked Jessica. She didn’t want to feel like suddenly clawing the other woman’s big brown eyes with their extravagantly long lashes out. Something hard settled in the pit of her stomach, it roiled and churned, making her feel nauseous.
"Well... um, you know that school I mentioned?" Jessica asked, her hazel eyes big in her face, silently pleading with Maria not to be upset with her. "I met Rick there too, he was an instructor. It wasn't..." She sighed and looked at the others as if appealing for help. "It was just part of class. I never thought I’d see him again, and even when I did… there’s nothing between us. It’s always been Justin and Chris for me. Rick and I have never been anything but friends."
"I see," Maria said carefully, pushing down the bile in the back of her throat. She was not going to be that girl. There was no reason to think that Jessica was lying to her. Not to mention, she was in a monogamous relationship. Well, as monogamous as someone could get with two men. But they'd both seemed possessive of her, like they weren't willing to share her with anyone else. Jessica had been nothing but friendly to her, and surely she wouldn’t be like that if she had anything but friendly feelings for Rick.
"You're going to run into more people that have had sex with Rick if you date him," Olivia said bluntly. Maria got the impression that Olivia didn't often sugarcoat her words. "Although not as many as these three do; Rick just moved up here recently and he didn't come as much before that. People here scene together, and that sometimes includes sex. Some submissives can get attached to dominants they’ve scened with, and vice versa, but the boundaries are pretty clearly spelled out."
"Which is why I don't make friends with the other subs," Angel said under her breath, avoiding Olivia's amused gaze. She winked at Maria, returning her voice to speaking volume. "Most of them are nice enough though, no one's out to steal anyone's man. They want their own. Doesn’t make them like me, but they respect the relationship."
"Except Marissa." Jessica made a face as if the name left a bad taste in her mouth. That was another name that Maria recognized, and not in a good way. Interesting that Rick's opinion of Maria was definitely backed up by the females in the group.
"Let's not talk about Truckstop," Olivia said, waving her hand as if to ward off bad spirits. Her expression was completely blank, as if she was holding back her distaste by sheer effort of will. "The point is, the club is kind of incestuous in a way. If you come here often, and you aren't in a relationship, you're going to scene with the other singles. That's just something you'll have to get used to and accept, if you decide you want to be with Rick."
Well at least Olivia didn't just assume that Maria was going to want to be with him. Sure he was drool-worthy, fun, funny, sensitive, sexy as all get out, and she had a lot of fun being around him, but she was more than a bit pissed about how he'd handled tonight. It also didn’t help her uncertainty that she would be able to deal with everything that was being thrown at her. Yeah, she'd had so-called meaningless sex before; it could be a lot of fun, but it wasn't like she spent time around the guys after they were done with each other. Or introduced her boyfriends to them.
Then again, since Jessica was dating his friends, it's not like Rick would have much of a choice about hanging out with her. And Jessica was really nice. And in a committed relationship. So did it matter?
"So," she said, taking a deep breath. She was already in the pool, might as well hit the deep end while she was here. Who knew if she'd have the opportunity to ask the questions again? Pushing down her jealousy, she forced a calm expression onto her face when she looked at Jessica. "What are Rick's kinks?"
"Oh, I haven't actually experienced them firsthand," Jessica said, looking somewhat alarmed. "He just taught the Basic Intercourse class at the Venus School."
"There's a Basic Intercourse class? Man... maybe I should just go to the school," Maria said, laughing and feeling some knots in her shoulders loosen. Strangely, knowing that Jessica hadn't had kinky sex with Rick, indulging in all the things that he wanted, somehow made her feel a little better. Even though she didn't know much about BDSM, it seemed like fulfilling each other's fantasies would be more intimate than just regular sex.
"I wanted to go too, but Adam said no," Angel said with a little sigh, although it wasn't really regretful. Kind of smug actually.
"Spanked your ass for even thinking about it, didn't he?"
Angel's smile was like the Cheshire's cat after licking a bowl of cream. "I'm just going to say it was a good night."
"We're getting off-track ladies," Olivia said, although her smile was indulgent. It suddenly struck Maria that Olivia's position in the group was incredibly familiar; that of the big sister. A protective leadership role, but the kind of leader who knew when to step aside and let someone make their own mistakes. A guiding hand, but not a prohibitive one. Those grey eyes found their way back to Maria's, still contemplative, but kind. As if she already considered Maria to be one of her own. Was this how Maria's little sisters felt? It was distinctly odd to be in the receiving position. "Rick likes and a bit of impact play - spanking and flogging - but his biggest fetish is orgasm play."
"Orgasm play?"
Angel made a face and Jessica shuddered. Hilary just shrugged slightly, although her own expression wasn't entirely serene. Apparently orgasm play wasn't necessarily the fun thing it sounded like.
"Usually denial of, sometimes forced orgasms. Although he's not extreme with it, like some people can be." The little smile that hovered on Olivia's lips seemed to indicate that it was something she enjoyed as well; she had a slightly faraway look in her eyes, as if she was picturing something else. Or someone else. "It's more about control than anything else. The knowledge that they are willing to withhold their own pleasure in an attempt to please you. Having that kind of control over another person. Keeping your partner just on the brink of pleasure, keeping them from actually crossing that edge... and then when they do, it's... beautiful."
Pressing her thighs together, Maria sternly told herself that it probably wasn't as pleasant as Olivia made it sound. Jessica was looking at Olivia like she was crazy.
"It's also hell when you're the one not allowed to cum." Jessica snorted. "Trust me, I've thought about safe wording more than once when Justin and Chris are making me hold back."
"But you haven't, have you? And it's been worth it, hasn't it?" Olivia asked in a superior tone. That's when Maria realized; Olivia wasn't a submissive like Angel, Jessica or Hilary. She was dominant. Like Rick was. Maybe that's why the others deferred to her so easily.
Looking at her, she definitely seemed to have that same confidence and aura that his male friends did. Kind of nice seeing it in another woman. The others were confident, but this was a different kind of power.
"Yeah, once they finally let me cum, it's awesome," Jessica said, although her tone was a bit derisive, like she still wouldn't choose the experience on her own. Maria could understand that. But it really did sound kind of hot... being tied up while Rick played with her until she was begging him to let her cum. Her thighs pressed together again as something wild and needy surged in her pussy.
A lot of the things she'd seen and heard about tonight didn't appeal to her, but that image did.
Still... that didn't make up for the fact that she was hearing about what Rick wanted in bed from other women. One of whom had actually slept with him. If someone had told her that was going to happen tonight, she would have never come. Now that she was here it kind of made sense, but it was still something that would have normally been a major warning signal to stay away.
Her head was so confused. So was her body, apparently, because she was still kind of hot and bothered by the half-formed images flitting through her mind of Rick looming over her with his hands between her legs while her own hands were tied above her head and she moaned and begged him to- okay, yeah.
/> Enough of that.
"Think you're ready to go back out into the club?" Olivia asked. Maria looked up and realized that the other woman was watching her quite closely. She blushed, wondering if Olivia could see any of her thoughts on her face. Man she hoped not. Talk about embarrassing. Like the other woman didn't know enough about what was going on in Maria's life already, whereas Maria didn't really know anything about her.
"Yeah... I think..." She paused, trying to gather herself. "I think I'm ready to go home, actually," she said slowly.
"Oh..." Hilary looked disappointed, and a bit worried. "I hope we haven't scared you away."
"Oh no, it's nothing any of you have done," Maria said, a bit of steel finding its way into her voice. Yeah, she was still ticked at Rick for his little trick tonight. Talk about a surprise date. "I just need to... think. Process. Figure out how I feel about well... all of this." She waved her hand.
"Understandable," Olivia said, standing up. Angel looked like she wanted to say something, but when Olivia gave her a look she subsided. Yeah, Olivia was definitely dominant. "Stop by the front desk on your way out and let Lexie know that I said it was okay to give you my phone number."
"Me too!" Angel said.
"Us too!" Hilary said, waving at Jessica, who nodded her head in agreement. "Even if you don't get together with Rick, you can still hang out with us, right?"
Maria smiled gratefully. Nice to know that the connection she felt with them wasn’t one-sided, although she didn’t doubt they’d try to play match-maker given the chance. "Yeah, I'd really like that."
Olivia basically herded them out into the main club area as they each grinned and either hugged Maria or squeezed her hand, and Maria noticed that more than one woman made a beeline for the locker room door after giving Olivia a dirty look. Apparently she had the redhead to thank for their continued privacy while they were in there, which made her feel both guilty and relieved.
Across the room, at the table they'd been sitting at before, she could see Rick's back and his friends as they all took notice of their girlfriends coming towards them. Heads came up, watching with expressions that were both admiring and protective. After all, they weren't the only ones watching. And Maria had to admit, she could see why.
They were a diverse group, with Olivia in all leather, Jessica in her tight corset and short skirt, Angel's latex dress and Hilary's more demure but still sexy pink top and shorts. And Maria, in the black clothes she'd be wear to a regular night out, definitely not in line with the outfits everyone else in the room had on. It made her feel a little out of place, not to be dressed for sex like the others were, but at the same time she was glad. Now that she was paying attention, she could see more than one man checking her out - and not being at all shy about it. Which would have been awesome if they all didn't scare the crap out of her; not because they were scary in and of themselves, but because who knew what they'd want to do with her?
******
Seeing his friends' reactions, Rick knew that the women had finally come out of the locker room. Taking a deep breath, he turned around, preparing for the worst. Instead he saw Maria, walking in the center of the woman, looking around with a calm expression. As though she was soaking everything in, maybe even seeing it with new eyes.
He bristled as he noticed how many of the other Doms were eyeing the small group with appreciation, but he couldn't blame them. The girls looked hot. If he hadn't been so nervous about how Maria was doing, what she might want now, he'd probably have even enjoyed the way it looked like they were following Olivia like they were her ducklings.
Olivia had been completely right. He'd been putting way too much pressure on the situation and on Maria. Which hadn't been fair at all. There were things that he could have said to prepare her. Hell, once they'd gotten in the club and he'd started explaining BDSM to her, he should have given her a fuller explanation. One misstep after the other, because he'd felt some stupid need to test her.
Stupid, really, to set her up like that. As if any woman, who wasn't given any warning, would take one look around the club and be on board with whatever he wanted to do. Hell, if she had been, he wouldn't have trusted it. If he’d given her more prep, or brought her here and given fuller disclosure instead of just shoving everything in her face to see how she dealt with it, maybe tonight would have gone differently.
"Don't push her," Patrick murmured in his ear, clapping his hand on his shoulder. "She likes you, but she's probably going to need some time."
"Yeah, I can see that," Rick said, but there wasn't any bite to his reply. He knew that Patrick was just watching out for him. Right now Maria was looking anywhere but at him.
Dammit. He really hoped he hadn't fucked this up beyond repair. Although at least she hadn't run straight for the front door, he supposed he should take heart that she was still comfortable enough coming over to him.
The girls split off, going straight to their boyfriends, while Olivia stayed close by Maria's side, as if offering support. Not that he really wanted Olivia acting as mother hen to Maria, but if it was going to help his little tease then he'd be grateful for it at this point.
Maria took a deep breath before looking up to meet his eyes, her own face composed but anxious. "I think I'd like to go home now."
The words 'if that's okay with you' went unspoken but he could feel them lingering in the air. And somehow he'd managed to convince himself that she might not be submissive? Ha. He really was an idiot sometimes. Even though she'd been occasionally more aggressive than the submissives he was used to, she responded in a lot of ways like a submissive. She obviously wanted to please the people she cared about, the people around her. And she looked to him for approval.
As much as he really would have liked to stay and show her that Stronghold wasn't as scary as it had looked, he knew he needed to listen to what she wanted. Like Patrick had said, now was not the time to push.
"Of course," he said gently, keeping his voice low. "If that's what you want."
She hesitated for just a second, and his heart leapt with hope that she might change her mind and say she wanted to stay, but then she nodded her head. "Yes please."
The ride home was uncomfortable and silent. It was obvious that the women had all taken to Maria; she'd gotten all of their phone numbers from Lexie before they'd left, and Lexie had insisted on including hers as well. Followed by a suspicious, dirty look at Rick, even though she couldn't possibly already know how he'd messed up. Apparently Maria's subdued countenance was enough for Lexie.
Rick was torn between wishing he'd never taken her to Stronghold, wishing that he'd managed the evening better, and berating himself for being stupid enough to expose himself to one of his neighbors. Not that he thought Maria would make trouble for him, she wasn't the type, but it still would make for the occasional awkward encounter around the pool and in the stairwell. Every time, he'd feel the sting of regret for getting so close and messing it up so monumentally.
He walked her up to her door, keeping his hands in his pockets and to himself, which really sucked when all night he'd been able to reach out and touch her as much as he'd wanted. So far she hadn't really looked at him, she'd seemed lost in thought, although at least she didn't seem afraid of him. Just distant. Untouchable. No longer his to protect or claim. It made the inside of his chest hurt.
When they got to her door, he took a deep breath and faced her. She peered up at him through thick lashes, and for a moment he could almost pretend that tonight had gone well and she was waiting for a kiss. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. "Maria, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry. I should have... well we should have talked more. A big part of... well, of that lifestyle," he said, changing his words just in case any nosy neighbors were listening at their doors, "is communication. Not that you would have been able to tell that from me. I fucked up. I put you in an uncomfortable situation and I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry."
Dark eyes, fathoms deep, studied him. "Apolog
y accepted. I... your friends were very nice. They explained a lot about... um... well, that stuff to me." Her eyes darted to the closed doors of her neighbors and he appreciated that she was being as circumspect as he had been. Not that he expected anything less from her. "But I wish you had been the one to."
Hope surged up inside him, nearly painful in its intensity. He jammed his hands deeper into his pockets, ignoring the dominant male in him that wanted to reach out and touch her, seduce her, bend her to his will. Maria was at least a little submissive, he didn't doubt that anymore, and he was sure that if he pressed now that they would end up in bed together tonight, but that wasn't how he wanted her. Free choice and logical thought, not lust and impulse... because he wanted more than just a night, he wanted a relationship.
"Would... like to go out some other time? Not to Stronghold," he added hastily, seeing the apprehensive expression that flitted across her face. "Just for coffee or something."
Not even a real date, although he might have tried for that if her reaction hadn't been so immediate and clear. Her forehead wrinkled as she sucked in her cheeks, obviously thinking. Part of him wanted to take back his words and tell her not to worry about it, but another, more hopeful, part insisted he stay quiet and let her figure out her answer for herself.
"I'm not sure," she said finally, hesitantly. "Um... maybe? I just... I need some time to think."
Rick felt his expression harden, hiding his disappointment. He nodded. "I understand. Thank you for coming tonight. Again, I'm sorry about... well everything."
"Thanks," she said, giving him a little smile before slipping into her apartment. The door closed behind her, but he caught one last glimpse of her thoughtful expression before it shut.
Damn.
Chapter 10
Standing on the stairwell of her apartment building, Maria watched as Rick swam his morning laps. It was a good thing that her apartment didn't face the pool or she probably would have spent all morning watching him. As it was, she'd been standing in the same place, staring at the pool, for at least five minutes. Thankfully, no one had walked by to see her imitation of a statue.
