Stronghold (Stronghold 1) (18 page)

"So what's
this Valentine's Day party?"

At the
question, Lexie perked up.  "I've been after Patrick to do some theme
nights and holiday parties.  Especially for things like Valentine's Day.
 Get attendance up during those times and make them a little more fun
rather than just having it be a regular night.  He finally gave in on the
Valentine's Day thing when he heard about the plans the guy I'm seeing was
making."  The gleeful smugness in her voice said that Lexie had known
exactly how Patrick would react and that she had made sure he heard.
 "So now we're having a party and he's insistent that since it was my
idea, I have to be here to help him run it.  I said no until he agreed to
let me onto the main floor."

"You might
be kind of disappointed," Angel warned.  "There's not really a
whole lot on this floor.  All the interesting stuff is upstairs and
downstairs."

"Yeah, but
it's a step in the right direction.  I've been working here for months now
and this is the first time Patrick has agreed to let me step beyond this
room."  Lexie rolled her eyes again.  "You wouldn't believe
how stubborn these guys can be.  It's a small step for the man, but a
giant leap for me."  

Angel giggled
at the moon landing reference.  Yeah, she could see how that would be
true.  

"Well I'll
have to come and hang out on the dance floor with you."

"Oh, I'm sure
you'll get to do more than that," Lexie said, with a bit of wistful envy.
 "I had more than one dominant stop by my desk after you left to ask
if you were new and available."

A flush of
pleasure heated Angel's body, considering that at least some of them had
probably seen the scene and the tense aftermath.  Nice to know that
someone wanted her.  Even if she wasn't sure she wanted any of them yet.
 

"Hey
guys!"  Lexie called out, looking past her.  Angel turned to see
three very large men and two women walking in, a brunette and a blonde.
 Two of the guys were tall, dark and handsome, the other had auburn hair
and was a little bit shorter than them but built with some major muscle and he
moved with a kind of lethal grace that belied his boyish looks.  Both of
the women hurried up to say hello to Lexie.

Shifting to the
side, feeling a little shy now that there was a large group moving in, Angel
realized that one of the tall, dark and handsomes was looking at her.  He
looked kind of familiar but where-

Aw shit.
 She'd met him before.  At Chained. 

For a moment
she felt like running, but the second he recognized her his face lit up like it
was Christmas.  His big grin was so friendly and contagious that she found
herself smiling back at him. 

"Well,
well, well, if it isn't 'Mistress' Angela."  The way he said it made
it sound like it was some kind of in-joke, rather than the personal affront
that Master Adam had taken it as.

Still, she
shrugged a little uncomfortably.  "It's Angel, actually.  And
definitely not Mistress."

Out of the
corner of her eye she saw both of the women gaping at her. 

"Wait,
you're
 the
one?" the blonde squealed, reaching out to grab Angel's hand.  She
was rather bouncy, dressed in hot pink and black, and incredibly friendly.
 The slightly curvier brunette standing behind her smiled at Angel,
looking a little shyer than the more overtly friendly blonde.  "Oh my
god, you have no idea how excited I am to meet you!"

"You
are?"  Now Angel was really confused.  She glanced around the
circle of new faces; Chris - she thought she remembered that being his name -
was the only one smiling overtly at her.  The one that looked like he
could be Chris’ brother was studying her like she was an amoeba under a
microscope, and the redhead was looking at the blonde woman in front of her
with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. 

"Give her
a chance to breathe before you bury her with questions," Chris said,
laughing.  "Angel, this is Hilary, Jessica, Liam and Justin.
 Everyone, this is Angel, formerly known as Mistress Angela.  And I'm
Chris, in case you didn't remember my name."

"I did,
but I wasn't sure I had it right," she replied with a smile.  Her
eyes flickered around all of them again.  "It's nice to meet you
all."

"What's
with the 'Mistress Angela' thing?"  Lexie wanted to know.  She was
the only one who looked out of the loop.  So Angel explained what she'd
done at Chained, how she'd wanted to get some insight into going to a club
before she went in as a submissive and some of the things she'd heard online
that had made her feel like she needed a better handle on things.
 Everyone listened attentively.  All three of the women nodded
sympathetically which made her feel better.  Chris just snickered now and
then as if it was all a big joke, Liam looked intrigued but not condemning, and
Justin's face was so blank he might as well have been Master Adam.  She
couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all. 

"Oh you
poor thing," Hilary said when she was done, reaching out and grabbing
Angel's hand again to give it a squeeze.  "I can't imagine how hard
it must have been to go in by yourself... if Jessica hadn't dragged me out here
I never would have had the guts to come."

Which was a
startling sentence in and of itself, because Hilary seemed like the much more
confident person between them.  She was definitely not as shy, which just
said that Jessica probably had hidden depths. 

"And I
definitely wouldn't have been able to come on my own," Jessica said with a
little giggle, looking up at Justin and then Chris.  

"You went
to the Venus School on your own," Hilary countered.

"Venus
School?"  Angel had never heard of it. 

The door to the
outside opened, admitting more patrons of Stronghold along with an icy blast of
cold wind.  The women all shivered, which wasn't surprising since Lexie
had already taken all of their coats which meant they were substantially less
dressed then all of the men. 

"Ok, time
to go in the club," Justin said, reaching out to snuggle a shivering
Jessica under his arm, just as Liam did the same with Hilary.  "You
can tell Angel all about the Venus School in there."

"Yes,
please come sit with us," Hilary said enthusiastically, her big brown eyes
shining.  They were like Bambi eyes.  Angel felt like saying no would
be akin to kicking a puppy. 

"Okay,"
she said, gathering her confidence.  It wasn't quite the same as stepping
into the club with friends, since she didn't really know any of them.
 Except that Chris had been with Mr. Grouchy at Chained so they must be
friends... but
he
didn't seem like he was mad at her.  "Thank
you."

After saying
goodbye to Lexie, and feeling bad about having to leave her at the front desk,
even though she put on a good show of not being envious, Angel went with the
group into the club.  The music was loud, but not loud enough to stifle
conversation.  

They sat around
one of the tables by the bar, dragging up a couple of extra chairs so that
everyone could fit.  The dynamics between them were fascinating; Liam was
obviously with Hilary and she and Jessica were obviously very close, but
Jessica seemed to be dividing her attention between both Justin and Chris.
 There was something between the two men as well, a connection that was
almost sexual but not quite.  

After they'd
gotten their drinks and Jessica started explaining what the Venus School was
and how she'd ended up there, with occasional interjections from Justin and
Chris, Angel understood a little better.  She'd never met anyone in a real
ménage relationship before.  It always seemed like the kind of thing that
worked better in fiction than reality, but somehow it seemed to fit the three
of them. 

As much as they
looked alike, Justin and Chris acted very differently.  Justin was much
quieter and more standoffish - not unfriendly, but not friendly either - while
Chris was definitely a bit of a jokester, very outgoing, and provided a good
foil for his friend and partner.  She noticed that Justin seemed to tend
to take the lead in the relationship, and everything else too.  Whenever
someone came by the table to say hi, he was the one to make sure she was
introduced to them.  When Jessica and Hilary's drinks got low, he was the
one to catch the bartender's eye and get them water.

And after
Hilary and Liam left to go to one of the playrooms, he was the one to stay
behind while Jessica and Chris went to get their own playroom set up after one
of the Dungeon Monitors came by to tell them that the room they'd reserved was
now available.  Angel got the distinct feeling that he was watching over
her, as if she'd somehow entered his sphere of responsibility just by sitting
down at the table with them. 

"You don't
have to stay," she said, feeling bad that his lovers had left the area
without him.  "I'll go hang out in the lounge with the other
unattached submissives."

For a long moment,
he studied her again, as if thinking over what he wanted to say.  It was a
little unnerving being under that dark, steady gaze.  "I'd feel
better if I stayed."

"You can't
just hang out with me all night when you're supposed to be with Jessica and
Chris," she said, with just a hint of exasperation.  She started to
get up.

"Sit."

Her butt hit
the sit and she stared at him, startled.  For the first time she saw him
smile at her obvious surprise.  How the heck had he done that?  Last
night she'd responded to Adam's orders almost from the very beginning, but she
hadn't felt that same compulsion with Justin until just now.  It was like
his voice had deepened, hardened and become a heck of a lot more commanding.
 It didn't turn her on, but it sure as hell got her attention and sent a
little shiver through her.  

"I won't
stay here all night," he said calmly, as if he hadn't just commanded her
like a dog and she hadn't just obeyed without hesitation.  "Someone
else should be along soon."

"Do you
mean Master Adam?" she asked, nervously running her fingers over the
condensation on her glass.  She'd gotten a bourbon and diet for her one
drink but it had dwindled down to mostly ice.  If she decided not to play
tonight then she could have more.  And if Master Adam was going to show up
then she didn't know which she wanted.  "Because I'm not sure I'm his
favorite person right now.  I don't really think he wants to see me."

Justin smiled.
 A slow, knowing smile that made her fidget and want to ask exactly what
it was he was thinking.  Stupid know-it-all Doms.  "He's not
coming tonight."

"Oh."
 Her shoulders slumped for a moment before she pushed them back up.
 Disappointment warred with relief.  

"He'll be
here tomorrow."  The tone of his voice was casual, the penetrating way
he was looking at her was not.

"I won't
be.  I have plans."  A game night with her housemates, but she
didn't mind the implication that perhaps she had a date.  With someone who
wasn't big, blonde and pissy.

"Mmm, too
bad."  Before Angel could ask what he meant, his expression lightened
a bit.  "Ah good, Olivia's here."

Turning to see
who he was looking at, Angel saw a woman with flaming red hair approaching.
 She was definitely a Domme, what Angel had pretended to be at Chained,
wearing skin tight black latex bodysuit that covered her almost completely
except for a keyhole opening that showed off a generous amount of pale skin and
cleavage.  The utter confidence that she walked with was exactly what
Angel had tried to emulate at Chained.  

She was also vaguely
familiar, and as she came closer Angel realized that Olivia was the one who had
stepped in last night with Adam.  Heat rose in her cheeks and her gaze
skittered away from those clear, grey eyes. 

"Olivia, I
believe you've met Angel," Justin said, getting to his feet.
 "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go join Chris and Jessica at
school."

"Good,
shoo," Olivia said, without even turning her head to look at him.
 All of her attention was on Angel, which was making Angel shift
uncomfortably in her seat.  The big male Dom paused for a moment, as if he
now wanted to show that Olivia couldn't order him around, but then he just
shrugged and walked off toward the stairways.  Angel sneaked a peek at
Olivia, who was now smiling at her.  "Jessica's good for him."

"What?"
 The nonsequitor caught her off guard, it was so far off of anything she
thought the other woman might say. 

"A year
ago, if I'd told him to shoo, he would have stuck around to make a point.
 Now he doesn't care, because he's happy and he'd rather go be with
Jessica and Chris then stay here arguing with me," Olivia explained as she
slid into the chair next to Angel.  

"I told
him that he didn't have to stay here with me," Angel said, feeling a bit
guilty and wondering if Olivia was obliquely referring to the fact that Justin
had been sitting with her rather than off with his partners.  "I can
take care of myself.  I was going to go over there."  She nodded
at the lounge. 

"No, stay
here."  Even though it was phrased as an order, there was something
in Olivia's tone that made it a request instead.  Just a very strongly
worded request.  A server came up and Olivia ordered a drink before
turning back to Angel.  "I wanted to talk to you anyway, how are you
after last night?"