by Golden Angel
"I know it might be kind of soon for this..." He cleared his throat, his voice kind of rough. Something welled inside of her stomach, something hopeful, something yearning. "But I think I'm falling in love with you."
"Oh." She took a moment, just to torment him, and then smiled. "Good." She closed her eyes.
Rick growled and Maria shrieked as he rolled her towards him, pulling her on top of him so that he could have unfettered access to her ass - which he spanked hard and fast; fast enough that she didn't even have time to get her hands back there to protect her tender glutes. Her cheeks burned with the aftereffects of his hard slaps, tingling delightfully.
Giggling, she pushed herself up off of him slightly so that she could look down at him. "I think I'm falling in love with you too."
"Tease."
"Always."
Cupping his hand around the back of her head, he pulled her down for a kiss. Maria sank into it, letting him take her. She might tease, but so did he, and that’s how they liked it.
Epilogue
"I did it! I gave up!" Angel announced as she walked into Olivia's apartment, a wine bottle in one hand and two bags of chips in the other.
Maria and Hilary looked up with interest as Jessica poked her head out of the kitchen. It was Maria's first sleepover with the Stronghold girls; they'd decided to have a girls’ night in at Olivia's. A planned one where all of them could sleep over. Hilary had confided to Maria that Girls Night Out was all too often invaded by the men as soon as they figured out where the night out was being held. Well, not quite invaded - watched over would be more correct.
So if they wanted real privacy, they had to stay in and Olivia's was the safest. None of the guys were going to try and storm that castle.
"Did what? Gave up what?" Olivia asked, looking amused as Angel pranced past her.
"Gave up the fight with Adam. I'm moving in with him."
"Finally!" Jessica called from the kitchen, laughing as she went back to whatever she was doing.
Grinning, Angel swept in and sat down on the couch next to Maria. Her purple pajama pants matched the purple tank top she was wearing, and the purple polish she had on her nails and toes. The coordination made Maria feel like she should have tried harder; she was wearing her Sugar Baby pajama pants with one of Rick's shirts that she'd stolen. At least no one else was quite as coordinated, although Hilary was, as usual, wearing shades of pink.
"So what made you finally give?" Hilary asked, looking curious. She was fiddling with the ring on her finger, something Maria had noticed the pretty blonde doing on a regular basis ever since she'd gotten it. Like she was afraid it would disappear if she didn't touch it often enough. Pretty cute, really.
"No one thing... I mean, it just makes sense to since I'm there all the time anyway and he's made the space for me. Plus Adam's been pretty patient, even if he's been growly about the whole thing. And it just feels like it's time." Angel shrugged, but she had a huge smile on her lips and her eyes were sparkling with happiness. "Adam's thrilled."
"So when are you making the big move?"
"After the Labor Day party," Angel said firmly, which gave the impression that Adam had probably wanted her moved in before. "I am not dealing with having a party while we're still dealing with organizing and unpacking post-move."
"Seems reasonable," Maria said.
"One would think." Angel's voice was very dry, making Olivia laugh as she came over to join them. Obviously Adam must not think so. Jessica came in from the kitchen, carrying the tray of dips and hummus that she'd been putting together.
Looking around at the group of women, Maria couldn't believe how much her life had changed since meeting Rick. She'd not only gone from wanting just a casual fling to falling in love, she now had something else she'd always wanted; a group of women outside of her sisters to be real friends with. They were like a second group of sisters, almost, except that it was okay to talk about sex. There was a closeness between all of them that she'd never had with other women other than her sisters, and they'd definitely welcomed her in with open arms and made her one of their own.
The door slammed open, making all of them jump and crane their heads around to see what was going on. Lexie stormed in the door, looking absolutely furious. She stopped in place, just standing there glaring at the wall, as the door slammed shut behind her.
"Lex?" Hilary asked tentatively. "Um... everything okay?"
For a long moment, Lexie tipped her head back and stared up at the ceiling, her fists clenching and unclenching by her sides. Then she took a deep breath and swung around to look at them.
It wasn't just anger in her face, Maria realized, there was also hurt and a sense of hopelessness. The latter was something she'd never seen in Lexie's expression.
"No. No, everything is not okay."
The support system sprang into place. It took them less than five minutes to get Lexie situated in the center of the couch, Angel and Olivia on either side of her, Maria, Jessica and Hilary seated on the chairs across from her, with a drink in her hand. The anger seemed to have leeched from her while they were taking care of her, leaving her looking very lost and very young. It made Maria's heart ache to see the usually bouncy, confident Lexie looking like that.
"What happened, honey?" Olivia asked, brushing Lexie's hair back from her face.
Lexie's bright blue eyes looked suspiciously watery as she took a deep breath. "Okay... I've never actually come right out and said, but I think everyone knows I have a thing for Patrick. To put it mildly." They all nodded. "So, today, I decided to go for it. I showed up at Stronghold and told him I had something I wanted to show him..."
Her voice trickled off, her eyes unfocusing.
"Lex? What did you want to show Patrick?" Angel asked, patting her on the leg to get her attention.
"Oh, right." To everyone's surprise, Lexie actually blushed. "I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I stopped doing the tape over the nipples look... and I did it for a reason."
"Oh shit," Olivia whispered, obviously realizing what Lexie was implying, even before Lexie pulled down the front of her tank top and the padded bra that she was wearing. Two bright silver hoops decorated her nipples, gleaming against her pale skin. "You go girl."
"Yeah," Lexie smiled half-heartedly. "I was pretty excited about them."
"That's hot... did it hurt?" Jessica asked, looking both interested and a little scared.
"Like a bitch. Especially for the first few days afterwards. That's why I've been wearing the padded bras, it helped to keep them from rubbing against things and then it helped keep them hidden so no one knew."
Suddenly Hilary let out a chortle. "Oh my god... and all the guys were so relieved that you were covering up more that none of them even thought about it."
Everyone laughed, including Lexie, lightening the moment. When they all looked back at her again she seemed slightly calmer after the brief moment of levity.
"So yeah. I was wearing a thong and a waist cincher and heels, and nothing else under my jacket. So I opened it up and for a minute I thought it was really good to happen. He looked at me like I was a real woman, you know, and not just… me." Her expression was so openly wistful for just a brief moment. "He told me to bend over his desk, and I did..." The wistfulness began to slide quickly into anger and hurt again. "I did everything perfectly dammit. I did exactly what he told me to, but all he did was spank me and then kick me out of his goddamn office. He told me I wasn't allowed to dress like that in the club, ever, as long as I was working for him... so I told him... I told him I quit."
The defiant look that Lexie gave all of them made it clear she expected some kind of censure from them.
Instead, Angel pulled the younger woman into her arms and hugged her tight. Olivia came in from the other side, and then they were all piling on, wrapping Lexie in a sisterhood of warmth and support. A muffled sob came from the center of the pile, while they all murmured words of encouragement for her and threats against the idiot Dom.
"I just thought... I don't know what I was thinking. I've had a crush on him for so long and then I grew up and I think I might be in love with him, but how can I be in love that I've never done anything romantic with?" She sniffled again. Maria sat silently, not sure what to say, because it wasn't like she'd been around for very long or really understood the situation. Of course, none of the others seemed to know what to say either. "He was just always my white knight, you know? Rushing in to save me from whatever... but then instead of getting kissed I always got a pat on the head instead."
Angel squeezed her. "I'm sorry honey, but sometimes your knight in shining armor is just another idiot in tinfoil."
Staring up at her, Lexie choked on a giggle. Then giggled again, and then suddenly everyone was laughing hysterically... it was somehow all too easy to picture Patrick wrapped in tinfoil, stomping alongside a frustrated Lexie. Scaring off all her other potential suitors along the way.
Eventually though, the mirth died down and they returned back to the seriousness of the situation. It was serious too, because even Maria could tell that Patrick had a thing for Lexie too.
"I think he definitely has more than friendly or brotherly feelings for you," Olivia said, looking around the room for support, and getting a bunch of nodding heads in return. "He just doesn't know what to do about them. He’s the biggest control freak out of the bunch, and he has no control over how you’ve grown up. My guess is that he has no idea what to do now that he sees you as a woman and not a little sister."
Lexie rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard. Naked girl in front you, insert penis here." She pointed between her legs, at which point Angel lost it completely and burst out laughing again, setting off another round of hilarity. Maria actually had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.
"So... if you quit, are you able to go back to the club?" Maria asked, once she got her giggles under control. She couldn't imagine Stronghold without Lexie, either welcoming people at the front desk or earnestly enjoying herself at the bar. The guys would miss her too, for all their grumblings about her presence.
"I can bring her, any time she wants to go," Olivia said. Her smile was almost evil. "In fact, it would be my pleasure."
"Yeah, but that's not really going to help the issue," Lexie said sadly. "All the guys still see me as a little girl. What I need is to actually do scene at the club. I need to prove to him – all of them - that I'm old enough to know what I want, that this is what I want, and that I can handle it. I’ve tried everything I can think of to goad Patrick into spanking me, but the second he was done, it’s like he shut down again. There's no way he’ll approve me for an Introductory Scene much less a membership."
"I could do a scene with you," Olivia offered, although she didn't look very enthusiastic about it.
Lexie immediately shook her head. "No, although thank you. But it's the same problem. They'll see you as safe because we're friends and no matter what you do, they'll feel like you're going easy on me. Plus it's not like there'll be any sexual tension. They'll think it's like play time or something, or like you're placating me... Patrick will find any excuse to see something other than what I'm trying to show him. I’ve learned that lesson by now. I need to shove it in their faces, in a way that they can't ignore, but there isn't a single Dom there that would help me do that. Whenever I've been on the main floor, no one even approaches me. They're all too intimidated to do something that might cause trouble with Patrick or the rest of the Sentinels."
Silence fell over the room.
"I know someone who likes to cause trouble," Angel said suddenly. They all looked at her, but she was looking thoughtfully out into the distance, straightening her posture as she began to look more and more excited. "I know someone who likes to cause trouble, has a membership, all of them would take seriously and would probably be happy to help..."
The gleeful look in her eyes made Olivia look at her worriedly, but then her eyes lit up too and she nodded, a slow smile spreading across her face. Angel jumped up and ran over to her purse, all eyes following her. Lexie looked confused, and also like she wanted to be hopeful but didn't quite dare to be. Maria was caught up in the suspense of the moment, because it felt like something big was about to happen... something important, something game-changing.
Holding the phone to her ear, Angel's eyes lit up. The room was so quiet that everyone could hear the deep murmur of a man's voice answering the phone, but going by the looks they were giving each other, no one had any idea who Angel had just called. She grinned at them, eyes dancing with mischief.
"Hey pretty boy," she purred.
Look for Patrick and Lexie’s story, coming Winter 2014.
About the Author
About me? Right… I’m a writer, I should be able to do that, right?
I’m a happily married young woman, no kids so far, and I like tater tots, small fuzzy animals, naming my plants, hiking, reading, writing, sexy time, naked time, shirtless o’clock, anything sparkly or shiny, and weirding people out with my OCD food habits.
I believe in Happy Endings. And fairies. And Santa Claus. Because without a little magic, what’s the point of living?
I write because I must. I live in several different worlds at any given moment. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
You can follow along with my blog at http://goldeniangel.blogspot.com/. I try to update it regularly. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter, if you want to follow me there!
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the story… and don’t forget, the best thing you can do in return for any author is to leave them feedback!
Stay sassy.
