Stronghold (Stronghold 1) (23 page)

The feisty brunette looked around at the
emotional havoc that she'd just created among the Doms and laughed.
 "Wow... sorry guys, I didn't mean to put everyone on alert."

Realizing that his hand had tensed around the
drink he was holding, Adam consciously relaxed his grip.  If someone had
hurt Angel it was in the past and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
 As for the urge to make sure that she was never hurt again... well that
wasn't his job.  Although he was starting to consider making it one of
them.

Hilary tapped Liam's forearm and twisted her
head around to look up at him.  "If I want to take self-defense
classes, you aren't going to stop me."

"I know."  He kissed her
forehead gently.  "I just don't like the idea that you might need
them."

"Well neither do I," she teased,
rolling her eyes.  They both laughed and the tension around the group
started to break.  Adam looked back at Angel and saw that she was looking
at the couple rather wistfully.

Off to the side Chris and Justin had both
closed in around Jessica, who was smiling up at them reassuringly.  She
looked over at Angel.  "I'd love to take some too, you'll have to let
me know where and when you have a class."

"Right now I'm mid-session for all of
them, but I can let you know the next time one starts.  I'm always looking
for new places to hold them, it's not the steadiest work except for the college
courses that I teach."

Liam shifted and Hilary looked up at him with
a demanding look.  Covering his smile with his hand, Adam didn't give away
that he'd seen the little blonde pinch her Dom.  "You could hold one
at my dojo," he said.  "Advertise to the subs here, I bet a lot
of them would be interested."

"Hell, we could have one here,"
Patrick said, gesturing at the stage.  "Usually I rent the club out
Sunday through Wednesday for other groups, but I can co-op one of those nights
for classes.  Especially since it's something that would help the
subs."

Looking absolutely thrilled, Angel was
practically bouncing on her feet.  "That would be amazing!  I'll
have to think about ways to tweak the curriculum to apply it directly for
people who are involved in the scene.  Although it's usually best to do
something like this twice a week, once a week doesn't really give people the
time that they need, although outside practice is encouraged as well."

"Mondays and Wednesdays then.  It
can't hurt to have extra emphasis on how to be safe in the scene," Patrick
said agreeably.  "We try to have a class about that at least once a
month, for both the Doms and the subs.  Now, does it have to be just
women's self-defense?  We have a lot of male subs here that I think would
also benefit from having some kind of self-defense class."

Angel hesitated, her tongue flicking out over
her lower lip before her teeth dragged across it.  Knowing that what they
were talking about was serious, Adam tried not to find that erotic.
 "It really does change the dynamic to have any men there are all...
especially when it comes to discussions.  Maybe I could do two sessions?
 One all women, for those who feel more comfortable in that setting, and
one mixed?  They'd run for about an hour each, so two hours total each
night."

And in the meantime, she'd have secured two
full sessions of classes for herself rather than one.  Adam had to admire
her business sense along with her logic.  Patrick nodded, apparently
willing to concede the point - and an extra night.

"So, no men at the one session at
all?" asked Justin, looking a little displeased.  Having already been
the object of censure, Liam just looked relieved that he hadn't been the one to
have to ask the question.

"None," Angel said emphatically.
 "There are some things women can't talk about when men are
around."  Then she smiled and actually batted her eyes at Justin.
 "But we could certainly use some male assistance for the practical
exams."

The big man looked at her suspiciously but
there was no way he and the other Doms weren't going to butt in wherever they
could.  "You'll have it."

"Great!"  She bounced on her
feet a little bit, looking rather adorable.  Adam wondered if he could
convince her to go apart with him for a few minutes now that she was in such a
good mood.  Leigh and Hilary were talking quietly about the classes
already and surely Angel wouldn't feel like she was completely abandoning the
other woman if she went to have a private conversation with him for a few
minutes.

But then Olivia asked if Dommes could come
and Angel immediately said yes, which led to Justin looking disgruntled again
about not being able to be included, which started a debate about whether or
not the Dommes would inhibit the submissives even if they were fellow women.
 Adam wasn't sure why Olivia wanted to go, unless it was to play mother
hen some more, since she could already kick ass when she wanted to, but that
was her prerogative. 

Justin eventually pulled Jessica away, he'd
been so focused on Angel that he hadn't even noticed when Chris had disappeared
to go set up a room.  Rick was gone too, apparently having picked a sub
out of the lounge, which made him relax a bit.  He was just a little too
aware of the other man's interest in Angel.  

For once Liam didn't seem inclined to drag
Hilary off to a room, probably because she was having too good of a time making
new friends.  Adam knew that some of the friendships she and Jessica had
had become strained after Jessica started living with two men at the same time,
since Hilary was very vocal about her support for the unconventional
relationship.  They had kept some of their old friends, but there weren't
any that they could really talk to about this part of their life.  Since
they'd never had time in the Lounge area, they hadn't really been able to make
friends with any of the unattached subs, and the attached subs were with Doms
that weren't part of their group...

Adam suddenly realized that his friends were
already integrating Angel into their group as if she belonged.  Or was she
just naturally working her way in there?  It was hard to tell, because she
was naturally pretty friendly.  But he knew that his friends wouldn't have
taken as much interest in her if it wasn't for his own interest, despite what
their girlfriends did.

He definitely needed to get her alone to talk
for a bit.  Apologize.  Ask if he could see her again.  Scene
with her again.  Get to know her better.

Just as he was shifting to move closer to
her, to ask her to step aside more privately with him, she looked up towards
the lobby door as it swung open.  Her expression brightened, like the sun
had just risen in her eyes as the biggest smile he'd ever seen lit up her
face.  And it wasn’t at him.  Jealousy sliced through him as he turned to
see who could possibly have put that expression on her face.

"Pretty boy!" she squealed, at a
high enough pitch that everyone next to her winced, before she was pelting head-long
across the club. 

Adam stared.  Olivia stared.  Chris
rubbed his ears, cringing dramatically.  Leigh laughed.

"That's 'pretty boy?'" Adam asked
in a strangled voice.

While he had longish straight brown hair, the
ends of which brushed the sides of his square chin, there was nothing at all
feminine about the man.  He was tall, definitely over six feet and
possibly approaching Jared's height although without the bulk of the other man;
lanky but muscular, in the way that constant swimmers had long, lean muscles.
 Which was very evident when Angel literally launched herself at him from
about two feet away and threw herself into his waiting arms.  She wrapped
her legs and arms around him, hugging him with her entire body.  Dressed
in black leather pants and a button down black shirt and with an aura of
authority in his every movement, he was obviously a Dom.

Jealous fury rose, only to be smashed down by
more anger.  Was this another way in which she'd lied?  Did she
already have a boyfriend?  A Dom?  He and Olivia had assumed that
'pretty boy' was her submissive when they thought she was a Domme.  While
he couldn't imagine a Dom willingly going by such a sobriquet, maybe Angel was
actually a brat who said it to get herself in trouble.  

"Well he is very pretty," Olivia
murmured admiringly under her breath.  Adam shot a glare at her.  His
temper was already dangerously roiling, he didn't need Olivia to feed the
flames.

Cool fingers touched his hand, surprising
him, and he whipped his head around to look down at Angel's friend.  For
the first time he noticed that Leigh had mismatched eyes; not immediately
obvious when you first looked at her because one was hazel brown and the other
was hazel green, blending just enough that only someone standing very close to
her could see that they tended towards different hues. 

"It's not what you think," she said
in a soft voice that was barely audible over the music.  

"What do you mean?"

She gave him a little smile and glanced down
at his hands.  Dammit.  He unclenched his fists for the umpteenth
time that night.

"It's not what you think," she
repeated, and nodded towards Angel and Pretty Boy.  Pretty Boy had set her
down, although his hands were still on her waist and her head was tilted up
towards him as if asking for a kiss, her hands gesticulating wildly between
them as she chattered up at him.  "They've never been an item.
 They never will be."

Adam raised his eyebrow at her naiveté.
 "There's enough sexual tension there to light a bonfire."

"I'm not saying that they never wanted
to be an item in the past," she said.  "But Angel had a
boyfriend when she first met Mike.  He ended up dating another friend of
ours."  Leigh's lips pursed.  "Monica was our other best
friend, until she decided that she didn't like Mike being so close to Angel,
even though there was no tension between them once he started dating
Monica."

"What do you mean?"

"It goes away.  I don't know how or
why, but it does.  The second Mike started dating Monica, it was like
Angel just lost interest in him that way while they were together.  The
next time she got a boyfriend it was the same thing.  They're only like
that when they're both single, but it's never going to happen because of
Monica."  She scowled at the skeptical look on Adam's face.
 "Look, I don't know if you can understand this, because I've heard
it's different for guys, but Monica, Angel and I were like sisters.  Once
a guy's been inside your sister, you don't want him inside you."

He had no idea what the look on his face was,
but it must have been hilarious because Olivia took one look at him and burst
out laughing.  

"How long ago was that?" he managed
to ask, rather than continuing to gape like a total idiot.  Besides, if
Angel did happen to glance over here, he wanted her to see him involved in
conversation.  Not staring jealously.  

"Years ago," Leigh said and
shrugged.  "But she and Mike sleep in the same bed all the time while
he's visiting and nothing ever happens."

"And how do you know that for
sure?" he asked, trying not to growl.  Did that mean that Mike was
going to be sleeping in Angel's bed for this visit?  No, wait, Leigh was
staying with her... dammit, the woman was getting him all turned around again!
 Just when he thought he had a grip on his emotions, just when he thought
he had a plan on how to go forward, the woman shot them all to hell without
even trying.  The abrupt loss of control, again, made him feel panicky; no one
had made him feel like this in years, maybe not ever.  Definitely not since his
mother left.  He was a wreck and she hadn’t even meant to do it.

"You really have it bad, don't
you?" Leigh asked, leaning in a bit and studying his face as if looking
for confirmation.  "Good, because I think she likes you a lot too."

Now what the hell was he supposed to do with that?

******

"Come on, pretty boy, I want to
introduce you to everyone," Angel said, grabbing Mike's hand.  She
had been so relieved to see him walking in the door.  Any extra support
seemed beneficial at the moment. 

No matter what the topic of conversation had
been or who was talking, she hadn't been able to shake the feeling that Master
Adam's full attention was on her.  And that he was slowly turning into Mr.
Grouchy.  It unnerved her as much as it excited her, but she didn't think
it should excite her.  Chances were he was just mad that she'd invaded his
friend group, but she couldn't help it- they were just so friendly!  And
they seemed to think that there was something going on between her and Adam,
but while she might like the idea, she thought it was just wishful thinking
when it came to him.

Unless he always looked pissy when he was
interested in someone?

Somehow she doubted it.  At any rate,
she'd been overjoyed to see Mike walking in the club, a day earlier than he
said he'd arrive, as a distraction for her nerves.  Especially because if
Master Adam did ask her to do a scene she knew that she would want to say yes
but she couldn't just ditch Leigh.  With Mike here, maybe Leigh wouldn't
mind as much...

"Angel, you can't just drag me around
here," Mike said, refusing to be tugged along.  Angel stopped pulling
and looked up at him, confused.  In a lot of ways her relationship with
Mike consisted of her dragging and pushing him around as she pleased and him
indulging her, right up until he got tired of it and put his foot down, which
she thought was sexy, but he never did it so quickly.  He laughed and
ruffled her hair, ignoring her scowl as she pulled away, her hands
automatically going to make sure he hadn't messed it up.  "We're in a
club, pest, one that I plan on coming to on a regular basis now that I'm back
in the area.  Which means I can't have you undermining me in front of
everyone."