Stronghold (Stronghold 1) (17 page)

"It ended early.
 What the hell are you doing?"  The Domme glared at him, moving
past him to Angel's side where she wrapped her arm around the wobbly woman.
 He knew the moment that Olivia recognized her, but that didn't stop the
outraged Domme from cuddling Angel and giving him another dirty look.
 "She can't just get dressed.  She's completely overwhelmed.
 If she's not in subspace, she's damned close."

"How can you
even tell for sure?  She's a liar," he said flatly, something
twinging in his chest as Angel didn't even react to his harsh words.
 "And we both know she's an actress which means she's a
good
 liar."

Olivia
glared at him, her arm still wrapped around Angel's shoulders as she shivered.
 The ultimate mother hen, he thought with some exasperation.  Olivia
was well known for treating all the unattached subs as her own, match-making as
she went.   Before she could retort back to him however, Jared was
bounding down the steps and coming up next to her.  

It was
amazing how fast all of them reacted to Olivia's call, without even thinking
about it. 

"What's
going on?" he asked, immediately sensing the tension in the air.  He
eyed Angel's shell-shocked expression with concern. 

"Take
care of her," Olivia said, pushing Angel at him.  Instinctively Jared
reached out, scooping her up into his arms.  Something inside of Adam
growled at seeing her snuggling into his chest, the expression on her face
still worryingly blank.  "Master Adam and I need to have a
talk."  The sarcastic tone of voice that she used for his honorific
and name should have made him angry, but he was starting to feel like he
deserved it. 

A newbie
Dom would be able to tell by now that Angel wasn't faking anything.

Probably.
 

Right?

He didn't
even realize he was staring after her and Jared as the big man carried them
over to the aftercare corner until Olivia grabbed his arm and forcibly turned
him around.  Every muscle tensed, a precursor to violence, before he
remembered himself and she released his bicep, frowning.

"Geezus,
you are on edge," she muttered before her glare came back into full force.
 "What the hell is wrong with you?  You've been obsessing about
this woman for
weeks
 now, she shows up, she's obviously
submissive... it's everything you were hoping for.  I didn't see the full
scene, but what I did see was hot as hell.  What the hell happened?"

"I
wasn't obsessed.  And she
lied.
"  The indignation and
anger welled up again.  "She's known all along that she's submissive,
she was just faking being a Domme at Chained.  At least that's what she
claims.  How can I even tell?  You saw last weekend what a good
actress she is.  She could be playing all of us."

Olivia
just rolled her eyes.  "For what possible purpose?"

"Does
it matter?"  Aggravation had him fisting his hands.  He wanted
to turn and look to see what was going on behind him; in fact he was pretty
sure that Olivia had deliberately placed him so that he wouldn't be able to see
the aftercare corner.  Of course he knew that Jared wouldn't do anything
inappropriate; definitely not while he was in a relationship with Marissa, and
even when he wasn't he rarely played.  He just liked after care and
cuddling and taking care of a blissed out submissive.  Hell, Adam liked
that part too and it was now killing him that he'd voluntarily given it over to
someone else.  

Even if
he hadn't been entirely sure that she really needed it. 

As if she
knew that his attention had wavered, Olivia stepped forward and grabbed the
front of his shirt, right around the collar.  Her eyes were bright silver
with anger.  "Look asshole.  You don't like surprises and you
don't like not knowing things, because you don't like being out of control.
 After the way your mom up and left your Dad and you and your brother
without any warning, I get it.  But this is
not the same.
"

"That
has nothing to do with this," he growled, glaring back at her.
 "I can handle surprises.  I didn't know that Brooke was a
masochist and I handled that break-up just fine."  It was something
that he reassured himself with on a regular basis. 

"Again,
not the same," Olivia insisted.  "You two discovered that
together.  You got blindsided tonight when Angel showed up as a submissive
and you found out that she'd been hiding that from you.  I don't know her
reasons for doing what she did, but I know that you're taking out your own
issues on her.  You still decided to do a scene with her tonight and
you owe it to her to take care of her through the end of that - and that
includes taking care of her afterwards.  Especially when she put
her
 trust
in you tonight and you're not repaying that trust.  You should be the one
taking care of her right now, not Jared.  And it shouldn't have taken me
to tell you that."

It burned
when she was right.  

"Fine,"
he snapped out as she let go of his shirt.  He knew that she was standing,
fists planted on her hips, and watching as he headed over to the aftercare
corner.  Jared glared at him as he approached. 

Standing
in front of Jared, looking down at the soft bundle of woman in his arms, now
securely wrapped in a blanket, Adam sighed and felt the anger leaking away. 

"Are
you okay now?"

"Yeah.
 I'm sorry you had to come down and do my job for me."

"No
problem."  Smiling almost fondly, Jared looked down at the sleepy
brunette.  "She's a sweetheart."

Something
very like jealousy stirred in Adam's chest, making his voice gruff as he
answered.  "I'll take her now."

"You
going to take care of her?"

He
bristled.  "Yes."

After a
moment Jared stood, easily despite the fact that he was carrying Angel's entire
weight, and passed her over to Adam.  She fit nicely in his arms, and
didn't even seem to be really aware that she was being passed around.
 Immediately after the transfer she snuggled into him just as happily as
she'd been snuggled into Jared.

Either
she really was the world's greatest actress or that scene had been just as
intense and mind-blowing for her as it had been for him. 

Leaning
back in the couch, he thought over what Olivia had said.  Was his anger at
Angel's deception really that unjustified?  She'd lied.  The scene
was all about trust, how could he trust her when she'd lied to him from the
moment that he'd met her?  And she was damn good at it.  Sure he'd
suspected something was slightly off, but he would have never guessed what the
truth was.  And he'd been the only one to think that maybe she wasn't what
she appeared to be.

So what
was he supposed to think?

And
Olivia's accusation about his mom... So what if he didn't like surprises?
 He hadn't liked them before his mom left either.  Sure she'd left
without any warning, but it wasn't like he had any hang-ups thinking that she
hadn't wanted him or Brian.  The reasons his parents divorced had nothing
to do with their kids and their subsequent dealings with each other had been so
acrimonious because both of them had wanted the kids and weren't above trying
to make them take sides.  The year after his mom had left he’d immediately
chosen his dad, because he’d been so angry with her.  She’d spent so much time
basically lying to all of them, pretending she was happy and then she just up
and left… so yeah, okay, he could see how Olivia might think that some of his
anger tonight could possibly be an overreaction due to his past.  Adam couldn’t
be sure it wasn’t.

Angel
shifted in his arms, murmuring.  Soft, warm woman, wriggling against his
dick, which apparently didn't care that he shouldn't be lusting after her.
 Thinking over the scene, he wanted to believe that she hadn't acted
or pretended for any of.  It had all seemed like honest, instinctive, open
reactions.  The kind of giving responses that a Dom dreamed about.

Looking
down at the woman in his arms, he tipped her back and she smiled rather
dreamily up at him.  The cloudy, hazy look in her eyes said that she
wasn't all there.  Again, the kind of thing he liked to believe couldn't
be faked.

"Angel,
how are you doing?"

She
sighed and turned her head into his chest, snuggling into him again.
 Shifting her weight, he held her closer, pulling her head into his
shoulder and just enjoyed the sensation.  Most of his anger had drifted
away, although he still hated the uncertainty about whether or not he was
reading her correctly.

Lisa and
the submissive she was scening with that evening, Maureen, stopped by on their
way back upstairs.

"That
was a hot scene, Adam.  Is she new?"  Lisa nodded at Angel.
 She was sincere, but she was also looking at him in a questioning manner
that said she was curious about what the hell had happened at the end of it.
 And what his and Olivia's conversation had been about.

Fortunately
they'd been speaking low enough that no one should have been able to overhear
what Olivia had said to him.  She would probably tell Patrick though.
 So he had that to look forward to. 

"Yeah,
that was her Introduction Scene."

"Nice."
 She gave him a look that said she was still curious, but that she
wouldn't push it.  Unlike Olivia.  Caressing Maureen's
blonde-streaked hair, Lisa led the pretty little sub towards the stairs. 

Adam
watched them go.  

Lisa was
right.  It had been a hot scene.  The hottest Introduction Scene he'd
ever done before.  Sure, he'd been attracted to other women that he'd
scened with, but it had never been quite like this.  That desire to figure
out "Mistress Angela" had been rather obsessive, he could admit to
that.  But his anger over her deception should have made his interest wane.
 Instead it hadn't seemed to affect their chemistry at all. 

As was
becoming almost habitual around Angel, Adam felt unsure of himself.  And
he didn't like it at all.

******

He hadn't
kissed her.  Not once.  That's what was bothering her.  She made
a face.  There were a million other things that
should
 be
bothering her - like the fact that she'd gotten naked in a room full of people
and then let what was basically a complete stranger put his hands all over her
body - but what was really getting to her was the fact that he hadn't kissed
her.

Not once.
 

After
she'd come out of her pleasure induced stupor - which had been more than a
little embarrassing - he'd helped her get dressed, gotten her water and
chocolate, and put her back upstairs to Patrick's office so that she could talk
to the big man on campus.  Kind of like an exit interview.  

She hated to admit
how much it bothered her the next day when she thought over the encounter and
realized that he hadn't kissed her.  Angel liked kissing.  She liked
it a lot.  And with her body still tingling and thrumming every time she
thought about all the other things he'd done with her, she really hated that
she'd missed out on that.

Maybe it was a
Pretty
Woman
kind of thing.  No kissing because it was too intimate.
 After all, he hadn't chosen to do a scene with her.  He'd been
chosen for her.  Just because she'd had the most amazing sexual experience
of her life, that didn't mean he felt the same way.

Hell, maybe it was
just because it was her first time with a man doing the things she'd always
fantasized about and he'd known exactly what he was doing.  Maybe she'd
have the same reaction to any strong dominant man who was experienced in the
things that she craved.  All day she’d been wondering.

All she knew was that
she had to find out.  

Good thing she hadn't made any plans for
tonight, although she normally had something going on Fridays.  She was
going back to Stronghold.  

"Knock, knock."  Justin
matched the deed to the words, standing halfway in the doorway of Adam's
office.  Adam scowled.  He’d purposefully avoided lunch with the
other man today.  "Can I come in?"

"Depends on what you want to talk
about."

After being lectured by Patrick last night
and receiving a blistering e-mail from Olivia after he ignored her call, he
wasn't really in the mood to be lectured by anyone else.  Not that he was
sure Justin knew, but the way gossip went around their group of friends they
seriously resembled a bunch of giggling high school girls sometimes.  When
Justin shut the door behind him, Adam scowled even more, knowing that Justin
would only do that if he wanted to talk to him about something serious.

Since he knew there wasn't anything going on
with the company, that meant it had to be personal. 

"So."  Justin sat down in one
of the chairs, stretching his long legs out in front of him to lounge
comfortably.  "Thank God it's Friday, huh?"

Tapping the base of one of his pens, Adam
just stared across the desk at him.  The smile on Justin's face widened to
a grin that made him look even more like Chris than he usually did.
 Silence stretched between them, but it was obvious that Adam's reluctance
to speak was amusing Justin more than anything else.

"What do
you want?" he asked, a little sourly.  He was not in the mood for
chit chat.  Even after he'd gone home last night he hadn't been able to
sort out his conflicting emotions. 

Discovering
Angel's deception, followed almost immediately by one of the most intense
scenes of his life, and then a lecture about his own failings from Patrick had
not left him in the best state of mind.  A good night's sleep would have
been helpful, if only he'd been able to fall asleep.  Instead he found
himself picking apart the scene over and over again, trying to remember every
movement, every word, and every facial expression.

Trying to
figure out if all of it had been real.  Wondering what the hell he was
going to do if the answer was 'yes.'

"I heard
you had an interesting scene at the club last night."

Adam stopped
tapping the pen and just gripped it tightly in his fist.  "I really
hate our group of friends sometimes."

"They
wouldn't have known anything was up if you hadn't blown it at the end,"
Justin pointed out.  "Jared texted me last night, he wanted me to
check in on you this morning.  Make sure you were okay.  Any reason
he should have been worried about that?"

Well at least
it wasn't Olivia.  She knew far more about what had happened than Jared
did, and if Justin was in here questioning him then it meant she probably
hadn't shared any of it.  Thank God.  Adam hadn't exactly explained
himself to Patrick last night either.

"I'm
fine."

"Yeah, and
you look it too."

Adam opened his
mouth and then closed it again, frowning.  He was about to ask Justin what
he would do if he found out that Jessica had lied to him or misled him about
something important, when he remembered that both Justin and Chris had actually
done that to Jessica.  They'd not only known who she was when she went to
the Venus School, they'd used their connections to ensure that they'd be there
at the same time as her.  And they'd known the entire time that she was
there that they'd be seeing her when they went home, since they all worked at
the same company. 

At the time
he'd thought their tactics amusing.  But he'd known them for a long time,
he knew that Justin and Chris were trustworthy and that they weren't habitually
liars.  

Theater girls...
well he'd done enough shows in high school to know that theater girls could be
kind of crazy.  

So which was
Angel?  A liar who was possibly crazy, or just a woman who had lied
because she felt she had a good reason to but was usually honest?

Maybe he should
be talking to Jessica. 

"Why do
you think Jessica forgave you?" he asked, finally.  “For the Venus
School.”

Justin's brows
rose.  "Probably because she's a heck of a lot nicer than I am."
 He grinned.  "Honestly, I was always surprised she didn't make
us crawl for it.  But maybe that's just because she felt like she'd really
gotten to know us, and she'd put her trust in us enough times at the school
that it was kind of like second nature.  Also, once we started pursuing
her in real life, we didn't give her another reason to distrust us."

The pen tapping
started up again.  Unfortunately none of that really helped him.  He
didn't know Angel.  The first time they'd met she'd lied.  But he'd
thought her responses last night were real.  Honest.  

"How much
did Jared tell you?"

"Well, I
know that 'Angie' is really Mistress Angela."

"Her real
name is Angel."  Adam sighed.  "She says she's new to
everything and she didn't want to come to a club alone because she was scared,
so she pretended to be a Domme at Chained, thinking that no one at Stronghold
would ever know."

"So she
knew she was submissive all along."

"Yes.
 She flat out lied to me about it when I..."

"When you
what?"  Justin arched his brow as Adam's voice trailed off.  

He grimaced.
 "When I asked if she was a switch."

"You tried
to proposition her at Chained?"  Chuckling, Justin shook his head.
 "No wonder you're so pissy.  We've been making fun of you for
weeks now and it turns out you were right."

Crap.  He
hadn't even thought about it that way.  Was part of his resentment towards
Angel because of that?  While he didn't like to think so, he couldn't be
sure that didn't play some part in it.  Not only had she gotten him all
turned upside down when he'd thought she was a Domme, it wasn't exactly like
his confusion had been private.  

"I didn't
proposition her, exactly."  Adam sighed, but the corner of his mouth
turned up in a little smile.  What Justin had said was true - he had been
right at Chained.  Something had been off and he'd realized it.  Even
though his friends had teased him afterwards, there was a reason why he'd been
so focused on "Mistress Angela."  

So maybe he
could trust his instincts after all.  At any rate, Justin’s observation made
him feel a little better.

"So she
was scared?"  Justin said, although Adam could tell that he wasn't
actually asking the question, he was just repeating what Adam had said as he
thought it over.  Leaning back in his chair, Justin rubbed his fingers
along his jaw and then through his thick, dark hair.  

"Or she's
just playing some game," Adam felt compelled to point out.  He wasn't
sure he really believed that anymore, but it had definitely been on his mind
last night.  Although, even if she was scared, he hated dishonesty and
hidden motives.

Hm.
 Olivia might have a point about his issues over the way his mother left
after all.

To his
surprise, Justin just grinned again.  "You really have it bad, don't you?"
 He laughed.  "Stop fighting it or you'll end up just like Liam
was when he was trying to scare Hilary away, stressed and cranky.  Although I’m
not saying you shouldn’t punish her.  I sure as hell wouldn’t tolerate Jessica
lying, no matter her reasons.  But Angel could still be worth getting to know."
 Standing up he headed for the door, only stopping once he had his hand on
the knob.  "Are you coming to Stronghold tonight?"

"No, I'll
be there tomorrow."

He needed a
night away from the club and his friends to get his head on straight.
 Giving him a nod, Justin exited, leaving Adam with even more things to
think about then he'd had before.

******

Today's theme
was red.  

It was a big
departure from last night when she'd been decked out in all white, but that was
the point.  Angel needed armor in the form of a power color.  She'd
had to work herself up to get out of the house and headed towards Stronghold at
all.  The corset she was wearing today covered her breasts completely and
was made of a black and red brocade that went well with the short, pleated red faux
leather skirt she was wearing.  A red thong was under the skirt and her
red crotchless fishnets slid into black pumps with a three inch heel.  A
wider, much sturdier heel than the stilettos she'd been wearing the night
before.

The bright red
lipstick might have been a little much, but it made her feel confident.
 Something she'd been sorely lacking since yesterday.

Usually she
liked to spend Fridays working on new projects to put online for Etsy or
working on orders.  Today she'd barely been able to concentrate.
 Yeah, she wanted to go back to Stronghold to explore more, but she had to
admit to herself that a big part of the reason was because she wanted to see
Master Adam again.  He had just seemed so... angry with her last night.
 Even after he'd started being nicer, he'd been stand offish and distant. 

But in the
middle of the scene he'd been hot, hot, hot. 

Angel didn't
like people being mad at her.  It made her feel itchy and jumpy all over
with the need to fix things and make them right.  Of course there were
times when she could convince herself that she didn't care, usually if she was
also mad at the other person.  But she didn't want Master Grouchy to be
mad at her; she wanted to fit in at Stronghold and he obviously had a lot of
influence there if he was trusted enough to be doing Introduction Scenes.

Okay, if she
was being honest she didn't want him to be mad because of more personal reasons
too.

While last
night's scene might have been so amazing just because it was her first time
exploring her fantasies, she had a feeling that a big part of it was who she'd
been exploring her fantasies with.  The man that had been starring in them
lately.  She’d met several other Doms that night at Chained but he’d been
the one to stick in her head.  So was it the scene or him that was drawing her
back to Stronghold now? 

Chemistry was
an ineffable, inexplicable force.    

So here she was
again.  Walking into Stronghold.  It was a little easier than last
night, although her stomach was still churning with tension.  Just for a
different reason.

Lexie was
behind the front desk again, a chipper, friendly face that eased some of the
bubbly twistings of her stomach.  A new face was guarding the door, not
nearly as intimidating as Jared had been the night before.  Tall and
muscular with brown hair that looked kind of spiky.

"Hey
Angie!  Welcome back," Lexie said, beaming as Angel approached.

"It's
Angel actually," she said, feeling a little weird about giving a new name.
 But she'd told Master Adam last night so she might as well keep it up.
 "I decided to go by my real name."

"Hey,
Angie's pretty close anyway.  That's cute.  Did you have a good scene
last night?"

"Yeah,"
Angel said, a little surprised.  For some reason she’d thought Lexie would
have heard about it already.  It was obvious that she was close to the members
of the club, and usually the front desk was a good place to overhear gossip.
 But she didn't really want to get into some of the less happy parts of
the scene.  Not that she really remembered them clearly, but she knew that
Adam had been kind of pissed off at the end of it, and that Jared had been
cuddling her before him.  "My butt was a little sore this morning
though."

Looking rather
envious, Lexie gave a little sigh.  "From what I've heard that
shouldn't last very long unless it was a really hard spanking." 

Feeling a surge
of sympathy, Angel leaned against the desk.  She wasn't in a hurry to get
into the club anyway, not really, and she liked Lexie.  It wouldn't hurt
to stop and talk for a bit, especially since Angel wouldn't know anyone once
she walked in.  Of course she could go right to the lounge area that
Master Adam had pointed out last night and hope that a Dom came by, but she
wouldn't mind having some time to work up to that.

"Why do
you work here?  Wouldn't you rather just join the club?"  It had
to be hard to be on the outside looking in, especially when Lexie very
obviously wanted to be in and was close with the people who were.  

"Of course
I would, but Patrick won't let me.  I threatened to go to another club,
where he wouldn’t be able to watch over my shoulder all the time, so he gave me
this job.  I think he thought by now I'd be frightened off by the people
who come in and the very little bit that I get to see being out here."
 The little smirk on her face said that the big man had thought wrong.
 Angel just grinned.  Dressed in another fishnet shirt, this one the
same color blue as her eyes, Lexie's lacy bra left very little to the
imagination.  As did the skintight shorts she was wearing.
 Obviously, even if she wasn't allowed in the club yet, Lexie was dressed
as if she might be let in the doors at any moment.  "Supposedly I'm
just doing this job until I decide that the scene is what I really want."

"You seem
like you already know."

Rolling her big
baby blues, Lexie let out a little derisive snort.  "Of course I do.
 But Patrick's adamant that I really don't know enough yet to
decide."  A smug smile curved her lips.  "I'm looking
forward to getting in for Valentine's Day.  Even if it's just the main
room.  I figure baby steps are best.  Give the guys time to get used
to the fact that I'm not a little girl anymore."  She glanced down at
her attire.  "Although you'd think they would have figured that out
by now."