Stronghold (Stronghold 1) (48 page)

"What are you so happy
about?" she asked, looking at him a bit suspiciously.

"Just glad your parents
seemed to like me."

Now when she smiled, he could see
how much she resembled her mother.  And if Angel aged anything like her
mother, then he definitely wasn't going to have any complaints.
 "They did, didn't they?  Although I think you had it easy, it's
been a while since I introduced a guy to them, so they were prepared to like
just about anyone."

"Hey now, don't take away
from my glory," he admonished her with a little glare.  

Angel giggled. "Sorry."

"Pest."

"I will bite you if you call
me that again."

******

Having a man choose her clothes
for her was a novel experience.  Although Adam was very clear that he
didn't want a 24/7 dominant relationship, he obviously enjoyed picking out the
clothes that she was going to wear to Stronghold.  What was surprising was
that he picked out an outfit that was a lot more modest than Angel had
expected. 

When she asked, he said that it
was because they were planning on hanging out with his friends, not on playing,
but there was something about the way he acted that made her think he probably
would have chosen something more modest anyway.  She smiled a little bit
to herself, remembering how he'd kept her on his lap the night before, securely
wrapped in the blanket he'd gotten for her, until it was time to leave.  While
she wouldn't put up with petty jealousies or a boyfriend trying to force her to
choose between him and her friends, she couldn't help but like a little display
of possessiveness on Adam's part. 

Especially since, privately, she
had to admit to some similar feelings.

Sometimes she still worried that
things were moving too fast, that she was being too incautious.  Her
feelings were getting all sorts of wrapped up around him, but she could tell
that he was still working on being comfortable with the fact that she lived
with three male roommates and that most of her friends were guys.  There
was still that little flash in his eyes every time she mentioned Mike's
name. 

She kept telling herself that it
counted that he was trying not to let those things bother him, that as
controlling as he got in the bedroom, he wasn't going to try to control her
friendships.  But sometimes she worried that she was too relaxed about the
fact that he was trying and that he obviously didn't fully trust her yet.
 Not that he acted like he didn't trust her... but if he did, wouldn't he
be totally okay with her living arrangements and her friends?

Or maybe she was just expecting
too much; after all, it wasn't like any of her past boyfriends had been
completely okay with her preference for guy friends.  Most of them had
said something to her at one time or another, no matter how hard they tried
too.

Maybe that was it; maybe she was
just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Adam to say something.
 Not because she thought it would end the relationship immediately, like
it had with her past boyfriends, but because, for the first time, she wasn't
sure what she would do.

******

"Hey guys!"  Lexie
was positively brimming with happiness, seated at one of the tables at the bar
rather than out at the front desk.  Angel grinned, thrilled to see her
friend inside the main room of the club - and not because of her party.
 Obviously she was making some progress on her determined inclusion in
Stronghold, although Angel couldn't help but wonder how the young woman's
campaign on the club's owner was faring.  "Look where I am!"

Adam growled under his breath and
Angel nudged him with her elbow.  "So they've finally let you through
the door, huh?"

"Just into this room, and
only when accompanied by one of my faithful Sentinels," Lexie said,
rolling her eyes and gesturing at the grouchy looking men arrayed around her.
 Olivia was the only dominant at the table who didn't look out of sorts;
even Chris' expression was fairly clouded.  Surprisingly, Patrick was
nowhere in sight.  "But the party was so popular and so many people
e-mailed Patrick this week asking if he was going to do another one and when,
that he's agreed to let me do a Saint Patrick's Day party!  And since he
already let me in this room for one night, it'd be silly to try to keep me out
now."

"Yeah, and look how that
turned out, he ended up beating up your boyfriend," Andrew said, glaring
at the diminutive pixie.  She just beamed at him, completely oblivious to
the threatening looming stance he had over her.

"Not my boyfriend any more.
 And good riddance!"

"Cheers to that," Chris
said, his trademark grin flashing across his face.  Then, as if
remembering himself, he glanced around suspiciously at the various Doms
scattered around the bar.

As if any of them were stupid
enough to think about propositioning Lexie.

Poor Lexie.  Even if she was
ever allowed into the rest of the club, Angel didn't think anyone would ever go
against the displeasure of this group of Doms.   Looking around the club
she didn't see Mike there; he'd told her that he might not be able to go to the
club as often as he might want to right now.  He was trying to spend some
time with the local theater crowd, getting back in good so that he could be
employed in his preferred profession.  Which she understood, but she
wished he was there anyway; she had a feeling he'd be more sympathetic to
Lexie's situation, and it wasn't like he would be in the position of seeing her
as a little sister. 

Not that she thought the two of
them would make a good match or anything, but at least Lexie would get to play.
 If she was ever allowed on the other levels of the club, so it was a moot
point right now anyway. 

"Come sit with me, Angel, I
need more estrogen around me to combat all this testosterone!"

"Hey!" said Olivia
indignantly.

"I already asked you to sit
next to me, and you moved," Lexie said, grinning. 

"Only because I didn't want
to sit so close to Truck Stop."

"Truck Stop?" Angel
asked as she took Chris' place on the stool next to Lexie.  Andrew was
playing guard on her other side, two spaces were left between where he and
Olivia were seated.  Adam dragged a stool over from another table and
pushed it in beside Angel's.  "And where are Jessica and
Hilary?"

"They're on their way with
Justin and Liam," Chris informed her as he pulled up another stool.
 "Hmm. We may have to get another table over here."

"That's probably a good
idea," Olivia said.  "Quick, before Truck Stop comes back."

"Olivia play nice."

"What's Truck Stop?"

"Not what, who.  And
you're about to meet her."  The unfriendly glint in Olivia's silver
eyes was sharp enough to draw blood.  Angel twisted around in her seat to
see Jared walking towards them with a rather attractive submissive at his side.
 She was shaped similarly to Leigh, with a smaller upper body frame that
flared out into "child birthing hips," as Angel's mom liked to call
them.  Long dark blonde hair was bobbing in a high pony-tail.  The
dismissive look she cast over the table of Jared's friends didn't endear her to
Angel.

Then again, considering the fact
that Olivia referred to her by a derogatory nickname, it was obvious that
she wasn't part of the 'big happy family' vibe this group sometimes gave off.
 Angel wondered why.  Everyone had been perfectly nice to her when
she showed up, except for Adam.  She glanced at him, but the expression on
his face was completely neutral. 

"Hey Angel, good to see you
again," Jared said, smiling down at her with pleasure as his eyes flicked
over her and Adam.  She was uncomfortably aware that all small
conversations around the table had stopped and everyone was watching her, Adam,
Jared and the woman - Angel was so not going to call her 'Truck Stop,' even in
her head, when she didn't even know her.  "This is my girlfriend,
Marissa.  Marissa, this is Angel."

"Hi."  Up close,
Marissa's facial features were a little too sharp for conventional beauty;
Angel couldn't decide if it was the prominent bones of her face that made her
look unfriendly or if she was just being biased because of everyone's reaction
to her appearance, or if she actually was just that unfriendly. 

"Hi, it's nice to meet
you," Angel said, going for diplomacy.  "Were you at the party
here last weekend?"

"No, Jared was working and
then he took me away for a romantic weekend."  Marissa snuggled up to
him with an adoring look, before glancing around the group of friends almost
challengingly. 

"Aw that's sweet, where'd
you go?"  Angel asked as Olivia bristled.  She could sense the
tension between everyone and for some reason Marissa's answer had increased
that.  There were some major undercurrents going on that she was probably
stepping all over, but what else was she supposed to do?  The others had
finally started up some quite conversations with each other, but she could tell
most of their attention was still focused on her and Marissa.

With something like surprise,
Marissa smiled at her.  "New York City.  We saw
Once
on
Broadway and had dinner at the Rainbow Room."

The answer took Angel a little
bit by surprise, since she would have never expected that answer.  Not
that she knew Jared very well, but he just didn't seem like a city guy.
 When Marissa had said a romantic weekend away, Angel had assumed a
B&B or the beach or something.  She looked at Jared, who was watching
the interplay between her and his girlfriend with his broad shoulders slightly
hunched in a defensive posture. 

"That sounds nice.  
Once
 won
a Tony last year didn't it?"

"Yeah.  It was
okay."  As Angel coughed to cover her reaction to the lackluster
review to a show that she had heard was nothing short of brilliant, Marissa's
dark hazel eyes lifted past Angel's shoulder.  "Hey Adam."

Angel suddenly understood why the
others might not like Marissa so much.  She could feel Adam tense behind
her, see Jared's expression close down, and the rest of the group was suddenly
humming with animosity again.  It wasn't that Marissa had greeted him, it
was the
way
 she had.  Flirtatious.  Intimate.
 Completely inappropriate considering that her boyfriend's arm was still
around her. 

"Hi Marissa," he said
evenly, and suddenly Angel felt herself being pulled back against him.
 His hand spread possessively over her belly and she was suddenly glad
that he'd put her in a lacy black shirt rather than a corset; she liked being
able to feel that very warm palm against her stomach.  "Angel does
some theater."

"Just community, for
fun."

"Don't sell yourself short,
you're a fantastic actress," he said warmly.  Angel twisted her head
back to grin at him and he planted a kiss on her lips.  He tasted like the
whiskey he'd been drinking. 

Yum.

When she turned back to Jared and
Marissa, she was a little surprised to see that Marissa had turned her back to
them and was whispering up into Jared's ear.  The big man sighed.  

"I think we're gonna head
out.  I'll see you guys later."

As everyone said goodbye, the
look that Marissa gave her was rather unfriendly.  What the hell?
 Angel noticed that most of them directed their goodbyes to Jared, without
acknowledging Marissa, although it didn't seem to bother the other woman.
 If she even noticed.  Somehow she gave off the appearance of not
even being aware of the animosity directed at her. 

"So that's Truck Stop,"
Olivia said, waving her hand after the departing couple.  "Delightful
isn't she?"

"I don't understand..."
Angel turned to Adam.  "Did you use to date her or something?"

He choked.  "Oh god
no..."

"She's just the type of
woman that firmly believes every man wants her," Chris said.
 "And that all she has to do is crook her little finger and they'll
come running."

"If you look up Narcissistic
Personality disorder, you'll have a good idea of her personality."

"Maybe she just needs
someone to be nice to her."

Everyone groaned.

"You don't think we've all
tried?  Well, everyone except Olivia," Lexie said. 

"You should have seen how
she dismissed Hilary and Jessica," Chris said, shaking his head.
 "The only reason she didn't immediately snub you is because she
thought you were just friends with Lexie and not actually a submissive.
 As soon as she realized you were actual competition for a man's
attention, she was done with you."

"So she thinks all of you
want her?"  Angel asked, looking around the group.

"She used to think I wanted her
too," Olivia said with a smirk.  "I disabused her of that
notion.  Which is why she doesn't want Jared to be friends with me
anymore.  Fortunately not even he's that far gone."

Angel chewed on her lip.
 She couldn't imagine dating someone that her entire group of friends
blatantly disliked.  Somehow, even though she'd heard bits and pieces
about his awful relationship, and compared it to Leigh and Michael's in her
head, the reality of it was still kind of shocking.  There was just
something about the other woman's behavior that had seemed a little unhinged;
as if she felt that social norms didn't apply to her.  The look that she'd
sent Angel before leaving had been filled with all sorts of dislike that Angel
couldn't have possibly earned.