by Golden Angel
“Good,” Olivia said to her, and immediately saw her greenish eyes brighten at the approval. She turned her attention back to Rae. “If you’re only here for Domi”—she would not laugh, she would not laugh—“you may want to rethink taking this class. It’s not going to be fun for someone who isn’t actually interested in BDSM.”
Rae’s lips pressed together, her shoulders hunching slightly in. Very different from the more confident woman she’d appeared to be when she’d introduced herself.
“I’m interested,” she muttered. Quietly. Almost resentfully.
Interested, but not particularly happy about her interest or having to admit to it. Olivia felt for her. Submissives tended to struggle with their own desires, especially at first. Domi leaned her shoulder into Rae’s, giving her some unspoken support, and the two of them exchanged a quick glance before Rae sat up again.
Since she’d gotten the answer she wanted from Rae, Olivia steeled herself and turned to her last submissive, who was watching her with a kind of quiet patience she found far too appealing. She raised her eyebrow at him.
“Luke Davis,” he said, looking her directly in the eye. There was something almost apologetic in his tone, even though he’d only said his name, as if he was hoping to make up for the way he’d entered the class. “I’ve always liked bossy women and one of my ex’s friends pointed out to me that I obviously wanted one in the bedroom as well. I did some research, but didn’t know how to go about getting involved with BDSM in real life until I heard about Stronghold.”
Caught in the sincerity of his gaze, Olivia couldn’t help but note he didn’t say exactly how he heard about Stronghold. Her Baby Doms would have seen him at the club the past few weeks, but no one outside of Patrick’s immediate group of friends knew Luke was the third, silent partner in Marquis. Patrick probably would have tried to keep the information even more contained, but keeping secrets within their group was nearly impossible. Obviously Luke was just as determined to truly stay silent.
And she knew she was focusing on that instead of the rest of it because part of her was still struggling with the idea of him as a submissive.
As a man she could actually become involved with.
Since she definitely couldn’t become involved with him since he was part-owner of the club she was now managing and she therefore reported to him. There weren’t any actual rules about fraternization, but Olivia couldn’t even begin to imagine how the dynamics of such a relationship—even a strictly sexual one—would work.
She needed to remember he was still off limits.
Which sucked a lot more now that she had a feeling he might turn out to actually be sexually submissive.
Good thing she already had her plan on how to keep her distance tonight.
“All right, so that’s everyone,” she said, her tone a little more clipped than she’d intended. Looking away from Luke, she did her best to soften her voice a little as she started to give her usual spiel about the general information they needed to know.
******
He had definitely not imagined the flare of attraction between himself and Olivia, especially when he’d stated his lack of experience but the reason why he thought Stronghold could be a good fit for him. The look in her gray eyes was one he’d never seen directed at him before, and his body had responded immediately.
Which was truly unfortunate since he should definitely be paying attention to everything she was saying about limits, being safe, sane, and consensual, and safewords. Michael and Patrick had gone over the initial survey with him, explaining what everything was and answering any questions he had so that he could decide on his limits. He still needed to listen, though, just in case they’d missed anything.
Hard limits would never be pushed, but soft limits could be. Since Luke had no idea what he liked, he’d had a lot of soft limits. Things he was willing to try. Granted, he’d had Olivia in his mind the entire time he’d been thinking about trying them, which may have affected how open-minded he’d been while filling it out.
“That’s it for now,” Olivia said, stepping back from the table again as she lifted her hands up in front of her, gesturing for them to stand. “Everyone up now, we’re going to pair off and you’re going to practice negotiations for an above-clothing spanking scene. Be thorough, because once we go upstairs, I’m going to be showing you some of the equipment and if you’re picked to demonstrate, you’ll be doing so under the terms you negotiated.”
Next to him, Domi made a slight squeaking noise as Olivia turned and walked back to the bar counter while the dominants stared at the table like slavering wolves. Luke led the way to standing, Samantha not far behind him, and the others moving more slowly. He was kind of fascinated by the way they all differed as they lined up facing the dominants.
Samantha’s chin was up in determined bravery, her hands clenched into fists by her side as if daring one of the dominants to say something to her. Beside her, Morgan was posed flirtatiously, one finger winding a long curl around and around as she eyed each of the dominants in turn. To Luke’s amusement, she even gave him a little look before turning back to the other men. Rae and Domi had released their hand hold but were still standing rather closely together, Rae doing her best to look unaffected while Domi appeared excited but nervous.
Coming back to the two groups facing off, Olivia had a small pile of papers in her hand. Luke assumed it was everyone’s limits and survey, since Patrick had handed Luke’s off to her when they’d come in.
“Rae, you’re with Master Mitch,” Olivia said, giving the young woman a look as she handed Mitch the paper. Mitch grinned widely, taking the paper with one hand and waving his hand out toward one of the other booths. Giving Domi a last look, Rae stepped forward and let Mitch lead her away.
“Morgan, with Master Brian. Samantha with Master Zach. Luke with Master Kincaid. And Domi you’re with me.”
Both Domi and Luke jerked in surprise.
He opened his mouth to protest, caught the look in Olivia’s wickedly sparkling gray eyes, and snapped his mouth back shut.
“But…” Domi’s voice trailed off as she looked a little forlornly at Kincaid, whose expression hadn’t changed a hair.
“Don’t worry, Domi, I know you’re straight,” Olivia said cheerfully, stepping forward to take the shorter, slighter woman by the arm. The aura of indomitable authority around her made it impossible for the more submissive woman to protest. “This is just for tonight and we’ll be switching around each class.”
She led the other woman away without a backward glance, apparently fulfilled just from having seen Luke’s face when she’d made her little announcement.
Luke looked at Kincaid. Kincaid looked at Luke.
“I’m guessing you’re not straight,” Luke said. “Otherwise she wouldn’t be looking so pleased with herself.”
“Bisexual,” Kincaid said cheerfully. “I’m kind of surprised she didn’t announce that when she paired us, actually. Just to enjoy the look on your face. You really pissed her off.” He gestured towards the booth Luke had just gotten up from and the two men sat down on opposite sides of the table, studying each other. Kincaid leaned back. “So, not going to run screaming?”
“We’re going to negotiate, right?” Luke asked. “You won’t do anything I don’t want you to?”
“That’s right.”
“Then I’m good. She’s not going to chase me off that easily.”
A slow smile, a sincerely pleased smile, not one of the wicked or predatory smiles he’d been using on the female submissives, spread across Kincaid’s face. “Oh, you’ll do just fine.”
Luke grinned back. “I hope so. Now let’s negotiate.”
******
Although Luke’s expression when she’d paired him and Kincaid together had certainly been gratifying, Olivia still couldn’t help herself once the class was upstairs and looking at the spanking bench which was set up in the middle of the stage. She’d already had Mitch and Rae demonstrate t
he leather wrist restraints and the various positions a subbie could be put in using them. Brian and Morgan had done the ankle restraints and spreader bar. She’d wound a length of rope around Domi herself, demonstrating a bit of Shibari rope tying. And Zach and Samantha had done the thigh and wrist restraints, the statuesque blonde blushing the entire time.
It was Luke and Kincaid’s turn.
And if someone were to accuse her of purposefully not calling on them till last, well… there was no way to prove that.
“Master Kincaid, why don’t you use your submissive to show us how the spanking bench works.”
To her surprise, Luke didn’t protest. He didn’t even hesitate. Instead, he immediately jumped up onto the stage with Kincaid and, as Kincaid began to lecture the female submissives, followed all of the Doms instructions on how to place himself.
Obediently.
Immediately.
Olivia found herself in the odd position of feeling both out of control and completely aroused. Two emotions which normally didn’t go together for her.
Even fully clothed, Luke bent over a spanking bench, submitting to another person’s will, was hot. His muscular frame made the sturdy piece of equipment look almost delicate, and the position showed off the curve of his well-formed buttocks. In fact, she was definitely not the only one checking out his ass. Kincaid gave it an appreciative glance, and all four of the women were definitely paying more attention to Luke’s back pockets than to where his hands and knees were being placed.
She gritted her teeth, telling herself she wasn’t feeling jealous or possessive, because that would just be silly. Even sillier would be feeling jealous that it was Kincaid’s orders Luke was so obediently following.
Crossing her arms over her chest, as if to help hold in her emotions, Olivia swallowed hard. She wasn’t jealous and her breasts and nipples definitely didn’t feel swollen, and she was not at all wet and aroused.
She was also not very good at lying to herself. Dammit.
Okay, so she was attracted to Luke. Not a big deal. She’d already known that. Luke being submissive… well it just upped the ante. But Olivia was in control of herself, even if she couldn’t remember ever having been tempted like this before. Had she ever been in a similar situation before? So attracted to a man in a position of power over her?
Nothing in her past sprang to mind.
“And that’s it,” Kincaid said, finishing up his explanation and looking up at her expectantly. Letting her control what happened next. Olivia had no doubts that if Luke had been gay or bi or a straight woman, Kincaid would have given the other man’s ass a couple of demonstrative swats.
She was dying to do so herself.
Instead, she cleared her throat. “Thank you, Master Kincaid and Luke. Luke, you may get up.”
Even seeing him following that simple order had her pussy clenching. This was so not good. Olivia didn’t want to be even more attracted to him than she already was, but seeing him behave as a submissive… fuck her, it was hot. The calm way he looked at her, like he was studying every inch of her in turn, didn’t help either. She already knew he was way too observant for her good. The last thing she needed was him knowing he was getting under her skin.
“That’s it for today,” she said, turning away from him and addressing the class at large. “Go home. Think about what you want and what you saw here. On Thursday, things are going to get real.”
Possibly in more ways than she wanted them to.
Her head hurt.
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Chapter 3
Knocking on the door to Olivia’s office, Luke braced himself when he heard her call out to come in.
The rest of the class had left, in a more or less orderly fashion. The Doms were making the subbies skittish and yet bratty too. Olivia had given Kincaid a look, and Kincaid had immediately taken over making sure all of the ladies had a Dom walking her to her car. Then Olivia had headed through to the back of the restaurant area, and Luke had known she was probably going up to her office on the second floor. She’d had a strained look around her eyes and mouth and had been pressing her fingers to the sides of her head in a manner which suggested she had a headache.
So he’d grabbed some of the painkillers from Michael’s office on the way to hers as a peace offering. Since Luke was a silent partner he didn’t have an official office, but Michael had told him to use his whenever he was on site.
He entered, closing the door behind him, trying not to think about how good she looked seated behind the desk with her hands laid one over the other in front of her. Like a teacher waiting for a naughty student.
Which was kind of exactly what was going on right now.
Not that he needed any additional fuel for his fantasies.
“Yes, Mr. Davis?” she said. To his disappointment she used her professional ‘talking to the boss’ tone she often whipped out just for him, instead of the disciplinary teacher tone he was half-hoping to hear.
Striding forward, he reached across the desk, holding out the bottle of painkillers.
“Peace offering,” he said blandly, waiting for her to take it before he sat down across from her, leaning back in the comfortable leather chair. Olivia had picked out everything in her office and it had quickly become clear that she liked all her seating very comfortable and preferably in leather. Did he see a slight softening in her expression as she opened the bottle of painkillers? He hoped so. “I wanted to apologize.”
“What for?” she asked dryly, shaking out two pills. She held them up as if toasting him with them. “Thank you by the way.”
“You’re welcome. I want to apologize for blindsiding you with my presence in the class. Before I actually did it, it seemed like it might be fun, even funny.” He shrugged, making a moue of distaste. “I regretted it almost immediately and wish we hadn’t.”
“I don’t blame you entirely,” she said, her voice still dryly wry. “I’m sure Patrick was especially convincing in how amusing it would be. Rather hypocritical of him, actually. He also hates surprises.” The way she said it made Luke think she was already planning on getting back at the other man. Which was merited; it just also made him worry about what she might do to get back at him. Or would she consider having blindsided him by pairing him with Kincaid tonight to be enough of a reprisal?
“I still shouldn’t have done it and I apologize.” He looked her directly in the eyes, meeting her gaze and holding it. After a moment, he was sure her expression did soften.
“I appreciate that.” She cleared her throat a little. “I’ll get another Domme to attend the classes as soon as I can to work with you.”
Luke raised his eyebrow. “Why can’t you do it?”
Was he imagining things, or did a small blush bloom in her cheeks?
“I need to focus on the class as a whole,” she said smoothly. A little too smoothly.
He tilted his head, studying the bland poker expression on her face. The blankness in her gray eyes. She was covering something up. Holding back. Luke spent a lot of time watching her and he’d learned the signs. “What were you going to do if it wasn’t me?”
“What?” She blinked, looking almost taken aback that he was questioning her.
“If I had been someone else, someone you hadn’t met before, coming into the class, would you still be looking for another Domme to come in?”
Her lips pressed together as she looked back at him, hands folded back in front of her, obviously not happy to have the question posed to her. If Olivia was anything, she was honest, aggressively so sometimes.
“No,” she finally said reluctantly.
“So why are you now? Why can’t you just dominate me yourself?” The smile he gave her was flirtatious. Charming. Everything he wanted to show her he could be.
The forefinger on her topmost hand began to tap. As much as he’d hated talking to other men Olivia had played with at Stronghold, Luke had done it, so he knew it was a sure sign
she was wishing she had a paddle at hand… Olivia liked to spank. Which, of course, made him wonder if he could push her that far.
“You’re my boss. It would be inappropriate.” Her words were clipped. Civilly cold. Back to the professional voice she used with him.
“I don’t mind, ma’am,” he said with the same lazy, inviting smile he’d kept pressed on his face, refusing to use the same kind of tone with her.
Her tapping finger tapped a little faster. Luke wondered if they were both thinking about the same thing—him bent over her desk while she punished him for thwarting her. And then making it up to her with his mouth… maybe even his cock, which had been slowly growing as they’d faced off. The flinty eyed glare she was using did absolutely nothing to deflate his erection.
“You will do better finding another Mistress to offer your attention to,” she responded finally, with maybe just a hint of jealousy? He hoped.
“But I’m only interested in ‘offering’ it to one,” he said smoothly, flirtatiously. If anything, knowing she wanted him and her only concern was their work relationship made him determined to show her she didn’t need to worry about their respective positions at Marquis. Maybe it was a long shot, but it would be worth it.
Standing up, he didn’t bother to hide the bulge at the front of his pants. It was nearly at her natural eye level, and her gaze dropped for just a moment to the front of his pants. Luke rapped his knuckles on her desk.
“You can bring in another Domme for the class, Scarlet, but you’re still going to be the one I want to submit to. I’ve met the other Dommes already, remember? The only one I’m interested in is you.”
Having thrown down his gauntlet, enjoying the look of surprise and desire—yes, desire for sure—Luke made a strategic retreat. Not waiting for her to respond or try to tell him his chances weren’t good. Never tell me the odds.
He’d done all he could here, now he needed to go home and plan.
