Mastering Lexie (Stronghold Book 4) (26 page)

Ha.

There was
something he could do.  Yanking open the bottom left drawer of his desk,
he grabbed one of the king size Twix candy bars.  Lexie's favorite. 
Considering how fast she dropped, one of the things she was going to need was
sugar.  Going back to the door connecting his office to the club, he poked
his head out.  Lisa was still leaning against the wall next to the women's
locker room.  Close enough to hear him.

"Here,
make sure she gets this," he growled, tossing the chocolate to her.

Nodding, Lisa
turned and pushed open the door to the locker room.  Try as he might,
Patrick couldn't see more than the first few feet into the door from his angle.
 

Having done
the only thing he possibly could do for Lexie, he went and picked up his chair
and set it up behind his desk so that he could plop down into it. 
Pressing his head into his hands, he closed his eyes and tried to calm the
headache that was starting to grow in his temples.  

"Fuck
this," he muttered, sitting back upright and turning towards his
computer.  He shot off a quick email to Jake, requesting Skype contact as
soon as Jake could manage it.  

Yeah, he'd
meant to wait till Jake came home, but that was only a few weeks away
anyway.  He needed to talk to his best friend, because he didn't want to
go through anything like tonight again.  Once Lexie calmed down and her
mood equalized, he was sure she'd listen to reason, but he didn't want to keep
holding back in the scenes.

It was pretty
obvious that they worked well together, and he couldn't really test that any
further without actually trying to date.  Hopefully her parents would take
it well, although he was less worried about them than Jake.  They knew
what kind of club he ran, but they didn't know how involved in the scene he
was, whereas Jake knew exactly what Patrick would want from his baby
sister.  Hopefully, Patrick wasn't just setting himself up for a beat down
when Jake got home.

******

Sitting on the
bench, tucked in between Maria and Jessica, Lexie managed to get out most of
what had happened downstairs between her and Patrick.  Standing across
from them, Olivia leaned against the lockers, listening quietly.  None of
them interrupted her or tried to hurry her, which she was grateful for. 
She pulled at the edges of the blanket which Maria had wrapped around her,
occasionally shivering despite the warmth.  Maria had gotten it for her while
she’d been in the bathroom stall pulling out the butt plug, which she’d cleaned
off with shaking hands.

Olivia had
brought a water bottle, which Lexie now had clutched in one hand.  It was
already halfway empty.  Between the scene and then her emotional upset,
she was parched.  It felt like she'd already cried a gallon of
tears.  Fortunately, Jessica had had the foresight to grab a roll of
toilet paper and had been tearing off pieces for Lexie to use.  There was
a gross little mountain piling up in front of her, which, if she hadn't felt so
devastated, would be kind of funny.

"I'm just
so pissed," she said, sniffling and knowing that she didn't sound the
least bit pissed.  She sounded miserable.  Throwing her current
tissue down onto the mountain with force, it was almost frustrating that it
just floated down to land softly.  "It was our first kiss and he
ruined
 it. 
I know he wants me.  He knows he wants me.  But apparently he has to
ask Jake
permission
 first.  Like I'm some dumb little girl who
can't make her own goddamn decisions!"

Both Jessica
and Maria leaned in, rubbing her back and making soothing, supportive noises.
 

"He'll
come around," Maria said.  "I'm guessing it's hard going from
seeing you as a little girl to a grown woman that he's interested in. 
He's known you for a lot longer as a little girl."

Lexie made a
face.  "Yeah, well I'm pretty sure I've done a good job of proving
that I'm not that little anymore."  Underneath the blanket, she
rubbed her nipples over the fabric of her dress; they were still sore and
tingling.  Touching them reminded her of how hot the scene had been before
he'd ruined it.

The door to
the locker room opened, and Mistress Lisa walked in.  Since Lexie had
planted herself on the farthest bench from the door, so that no one could just
look in and see her, Mistress Lisa had to cross the entire locker room. 

"Here
sweetie," she said, when she was close enough, tossing a shiny, bronze
object at her.  Lexie instinctively reached out to catch it, dropping her
blanket in the process. 

Always on top
of mothering, Maria pulled the blanket right back up and tucked it securely
around Lexie's shoulders so that it wouldn't fall as easily.  

"Patrick
thought you might need that," Mistress Lisa said as Lexie looked at the
giant Twix bar in astonishment.  He kept Twix bars in his office for
her?  For one joyous moment, her heart leaped up, right before plummeting
right back down again.

"I don't
have fucking sub-drop!" she said savagely as she passed her water bottle
to Jessica so that she could rip open the Twix. 

"Yes, you
do, honey," Olivia said.  It was actually the first thing that she'd
said since coming into the room, Lexie realized.  Uncharacteristically,
she'd just been standing and listening without saying a single word.  Not
even the murmured encouragement that Maria and Jessica had been surrounding her
with.  Mistress Lisa just shook her head and headed back out of the locker
room.  Olivia studied Lexie, not even noticing that the other Domme had
left.  "Eat your chocolate."

Jessica rubbed
Lexie's back, regarding her sympathetically.  "Sub-drop's a bitch,
the chocolate will help."

"Angel
says they're like dementor attacks," Maria said, grinning as she nudged
Lexie with her shoulder.  

"Angel is
a nerd."

"She's
also right," Olivia said, sounding amused.  Her expression softened a bit
as she looked at Lexie.  "It's the same idea.  Once you feel
better, you'll realize that you've had a major drop."

"Yeah,
because Patrick was a jerk."

"It was also
the timing, sweetie.  Eat.  You’ll feel better.”

Obediently,
Lexie took a bite of her candy bar.  The chocolate and caramel seemed to
explode on her tongue, more intense than she remembered.  Mmm,
creamy.  And crunchy.  The balance of texture was exactly what she
needed, and she quickly took another two bites without any prompting.  It
was like her body had just woken up and realized what it was craving.

"Don't
forget to drink," Jessica said, handing back the water bottle.
 "You need the water too."

"Thanks
moms," Lexie joked.  Pretending to feel more normal.  But it
still felt like her emotions were ripping apart her insides.  She was
having trouble feeling just one thing.  They ricocheted around inside of
her, like spiked pinballs, sending her up and down so fast that she could
barely keep track of where her head was at.  Tears sparked in her eyes
again.

"Shh,
it's okay, just eat and drink," Maria said, comforting her again. 
Probably thinking that she was a huge crybaby.

"Make
sure she eats the whole bar," Olivia said, looking at the two women beside
her.  For just a moment, Lexie felt a small flare of resentment and
anger.  Obviously Olivia didn't trust her to take care of herself either,
but then again, Olivia thought she was suffering sub-drop.  Which, to
Lexie, sounded like another way of saying she was being irrational and
dismissing her feelings.  But she took another big bite of her candy bar
anyway, under Olivia's watchful eye.  "I'm gonna go check on
Patrick."

As the
redheaded Domme turned, Lexie had the sudden urge to go with her and find out
how he was doing too.  She squashed it down immediately, knowing that part
of the reason was that she wanted proof he was just as upset as she was right
now.  An uncomfortable silence fell while she was chewing.

"So how
are you and Rick doing?" she asked Maria, trying to keep her voice normal,
despite the envy that welled up inside of her.  Why did everyone get the
guy that they wanted except for her?  

Maria's cheeks
turned pink, which looked particularly pretty with her mane of wild, dark curls
framing her face.  The older woman had the kind of voluptuous curves that
Lexie sometimes dreamed about, which also made her particularly nice to snuggle
up to.  She was definitely the mothering sort.  

"We're
good.  I think I'm ready to start coming to the club on a more regular
basis now, although we'll probably stick to the private rooms."

"That's
what Hilary and Liam do, too," Jessica said encouragingly.
 "It'd be great to see more of you guys.  I swear, I feel like
half of our social life revolves around this club."

Probably
because it did, Lexie thought, a little cynically.  That was another
problem.  Stronghold was where all of her friends gathered on the
weekends.  Not just to play, but also just to see each other before and
after scening.  Lexie wanted to be a part of that, but without the
babysitter watching over her at the bar while everyone else went off to
play.  That wasn't fair to her
or
 whichever one of her
Sentinels got stuck with babysitting duty.

Maria and
Jessica's chatter wove around her, kind of soothing in its normalcy, as she
finished the rest of her candy bar and water.  The conversation moved to
Hilary's wedding and, like Lexie had thought, Maria seemed totally fine with
the fact that she wasn't a bridesmaid.  She and Jessica started bouncing
ideas for the bachelorette party, from the low-key (a night in with lots of
booze and movies) to the outrageous (Vegas).  Lexie tried to pay
attention, to keep from focusing on her own dark thoughts. 

She was
finally starting to calm down, but she was still pissed.  She also didn't
want to be in the club anymore.  This was Patrick's turf, and she was
feeling too vulnerable, too raw, to deal with him again tonight.  

"Can one
of you see if Patrick's standing outside the door?" she asked,
interrupting their conversation.  She felt a little bad, but she also knew
neither of them minded.  Jessica immediately hopped up.

"Sure,
sweetie."  The curvy brunette swayed on her high heels through the
locker room before peeking out the door.  She turned back, shaking her
head.  "I don't see him."

Lexie yanked
on her shoes and lurched to her feet, suddenly feeling claustrophobic, like the
club was a tiny box that she needed to escape from.  Adrenaline pounded
through her, not out of anger this time, but out of the desire to flee. 
The fight response had worn off and now she was ready for flight.  She
needed to get home and regroup before she could face him again. 
Otherwise, she might just burst into tears.  She was not going to be
another Marissa, pushing a guy into a relationship with her because of tears
and a tantrum.  The idea that her crying might be more important to
Patrick than Jake's permission was tempting, in a crazy-bitch, manipulative
kind of way.  She was feeling a little crazy right now, but not that
crazy.  Which meant she needed to get out of here while the getting was
good, until she felt like she could face him again without turning into a mess.

Catching a
glimpse of herself in the mirror, she groaned and quickly went over to the sink
to scrub off the streaks of mascara and eyeliner on her cheeks.  Maria
helped, efficiently managing to remove twice of what Lexie did on her own,
while Jessica kept peeking out of the door.  

"How are
you so good at this?" Lexie muttered, as Maria wiped away the last of her
runny make-up.

Smiling, Maria
winked at her.  "Oldest of three sisters, remember?  I've had
practice."  And now she was looking after Lexie.  

The Stronghold
women really were like her older sisters, the ones she always wished for. 
Plus, unlike the guys, they didn't act like she was a little idiot who couldn't
think for herself or make her own choices.  

"Still
clear?" she asked Jessica.

"Yup. 
I don't see Olivia either, I bet they're in his office."

Good, maybe
Olivia could talk some sense into him.  Lexie hurried out the door. 
Across the club, at the bar, Rick and Justin both stood up.  Obviously
they'd been sitting and waiting, watching the door to the locker room. 
Moving towards the women, Rick reached out his hand, and Maria immediately
veered towards him, which made Lexie's heart ache again, in envy this
time.  That was what she wanted.  Neither of them even seemed to stop
and think about their responses to each other, they just did it.  

As soon as the
guys reached them, Lexie had that familiar feeling of being the fifth
wheel.  Rick slid his hands around Maria's waist, while Justin reached out
to hold Jessica's hand. 

"Patrick
wants to see you, before you leave."  Those were Rick's first words
to her.

"Hi Rick,
nice to see you too," she said coolly, and he at least had the grace to
look abashed for a moment.  "Tell Patrick I quit, and he can go fuck
himself.  Good night."

Spinning on
her heel, she ignored both Justin and Rick as they called her name.  A
quick glance over her shoulder showed that they were both being hindered by
their submissives.  Which immediately made her tear up again, to see how her
friends were doing what they could for her - even to the detriment of themselves. 
Another instance in which they were probably going to end up being punished,
because they were helping her instead of listening to their Doms, inside
Stronghold.