Stronghold (Stronghold 1)

by Angel, Golden

  "You'll be on the floor for that damn Valentine's Day party."

  Lexie snorted. "That's not in return for my outfits, that's because you don't want me going away for a weekend with Tyler."

  "Damned right I don't. I'll let you throw the damned party but I'm not going to act happy about it. And you'd better not try to sneak out early with the little bastard."

  Even though her back was to Angel, she could tell that Lexie was rolling her eyes as her fists found their way to her hips. "Who died and made you king?"

  "Your brother left me in charge."

  "He sure as hell did not."

  "As good as."

  Crap. Angel sneezed. Which she regretted on several levels. Watching Lexie and Mr. Scary battle was as good as a soap opera; the sexual tension levels were out of this world although obviously Lexie was seeing someone else. She also regretted it because now those dark eyes that had been glaring at Lexie were focused on her and he still looked pissed as hell.

  "I'm sorry," she muttered as Lexie handed her a tissue.

  "Don't worry about it," Lexie said. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "This is Master Patrick. He's in a mood right now. Don't let it bother you. I don't."

  A growling noise sounded from behind her but Lexie ignored it, flipping up her skirt before she sat back down. Angel was pretty sure that she'd just given Master Patrick a pretty good view of what was under it. The look on Lexie's face, now that Angel could see it, was part defiant, part fearful and part expectant.

  "Come on back, Angie."

  Patrick strode away through the door he'd popped out of, leaving it open behind him.

  "Sorry about that. He's my older brother's best friend," Lexie said with a sigh. Now she looked both disappointed and resigned. If Angel had a guess, she'd bet that Lexie was deliberately poking at Patrick. The girl had a crush, even if she was dating someone else, and Mr. Scary was resisting. "Stop by on your way out and let me know how your scene goes?"

  "Definitely." Angel smiled. She didn't always make new friends with girls easily, but Lexie was impossible to resist and she didn’t have any of the cattiness or reserve that Angel tended to associate with her own gender.

  Going into Master Patrick’s office was a little scary, but though he seemed kind of riled up it wasn’t like he had laid a hand on Lexie. Even though she’d been pushing for it. And he’d obviously wanted to.

  The entirety of the office seemed to be designed for both comfort and intimidation. Everything was made out of either maple wood or black leather, implements for spanking lined one wall, another was covered in some of the most beautiful and erotic bondage photographs that Angel had ever seen.

  The desk that Master Patrick sat down at was huge, it made her feel like a dwarf by comparison. A man smaller than him would have looked overwhelmed by it, but it suited him perfectly.

  "Have a seat."

  Yeah, no mistaking this man for anything other than "in charge." The authoritarian tone of voice had her moving before she even thought about it, to one of the cushy black leather chairs in front of the desk. It was incredibly comfortable. The kind of chair that she'd like to curl up and wallow in, read a book on a rainy day... it would have worked just as well in front of a fire as it did in this office.

  But with the scary man behind the desk, his hard gaze fixed on her, she couldn't relax. Instead she shifted her weight, taking tiny peeks at him because for some reason she couldn't bring herself to directly meet his eyes for more than a moment or two. She'd managed it with the Doms at Chained, but they hadn't known she was submissive. It had been easier there. No doubts welling up in her mind, no second thoughts about what she was about to do.

  "I'm sorry about my ah... altercation with Lexie," he said in clipped tones. Definitely not a man used to apologizing. "You shouldn't have had to see that."

  "It's okay." Angel met his dark eyes for a moment and then dropped her head again. "Sir."

  When she peeked at him this time he had the faint traces of a smile around his lips, which made him seem a lot less intimidating.

  "Did you read over the contract that I sent you?"

  "Yes Sir." About fifty times. It had included all the rules and regulations that governed Stronghold.

  "Good girl."

  Something inside of Angel warmed as he reached into his desk and pulled out a stapled stack of papers. Yeah, she wasn't attracted to Patrick, even though she could acknowledge that he was extremely attractive, but she still liked being called a good girl by him. There was just something about it that satisfied a need deep inside of her and made her feel all happy and glow-y.

  "This is the same thing, in paper form. You can look it over if you want. And then you need to sign it." He glanced at the clock. "Your Dom for the evening should be here any minute."

  She felt a little awkward looking over it in front of him, because part of her said to trust his word, but the more cynical part of her that taught self-defense said always be sure. So she skimmed it, familiar enough with the sentences by now to know that they were identical to the one that he'd sent her online. Even though she couldn't read as fast as Leigh, she was pretty fast skimming, which cut down on the length of time that she was looking it over.

  As she picked up a pen to sign, Patrick's phone rang.

  "Hello?..." There was a long pause. "Shit. Alright, I'll be right down."

  Putting down the phone with enough force that Angel jumped (okay, so she might be a little bit jittery considering that she'd just signed a release to have all sorts of dirty and debauched things done to her), Patrick sighed and gave her a reassuring sort of smile. It warmed his face and enabled her to meet his eyes.

  "I have a situation I have to see to... I don't want to have to leave you here alone though. Hold on a moment." Getting up, he went back to the door that they'd come in from, the one that connected to the lobby. Angel clasped her hands together. A situation? What did that mean? Was it a sub that had gotten hurt? Someone's scene gotten out of control? Why would the owner of the club be needed if unless it something bad?

  As her panic started to well, Patrick stuck his head out of the door. "Jared.... oh hey, good you're here. Never mind, Jared." He shifted so that more of his body was out of the door, his voice still loud enough that she could hear every word he said. "I've got a situation downstairs... Tom offered Ellie a club contract last week but she refused."

  "Of course she did," another deep male voice said. "Ellie never signs club contracts."

  "Yeah but she's been scening with him a lot lately, I think he got his hopes up."

  A derisive snort.

  "Anyway, she turned him down for a scene tonight and accepted an offer from Will, so now I've got to get downstairs because Tom's throwing a hissy fit, Ellie is making it worse by ignoring him, and Will is pissed."

  "As he should be if Tom's interfering with a scene over a sub that he has no claim to."

  "Yes, thank you for telling me what I already know." Master Patrick's voice was dry, but she could tell that he respected whoever he was talking to. He was sarcastic but not derogatory. "Anyway, Angie's in here, so you can chat with her before choosing a room for the scene. Interrogation, jail and school are all open."

  "Okay, thanks."

  Then Master Patrick was moving away and another man was entering. Angel was starting to stand, feeling that she should get up and introduce herself, but as soon as she caught his crystal blue gaze her knees and lungs locked up and she found herself sinking back into the chair.

  Very tall, very attractive, with very blue eyes, blonde hair and a goatee... and he looked more than grouchy as recognition flashed across his face.

  He looked downright pissed.

  Chapter 7

  Adam had studied the survey and information that Patrick had sent him on Angie and hoped that the Introduction Scene wouldn't be as frustrating as his one with Stephanie. From the survey, as long as she had filled it out truthfully, it seemed like it should be an enjoyable scene for him. And fro
m the amount of question marks and indications of "never tried, would like to" answers that she'd given, he assumed she was being truthful. Stephanie’s survey had been full of confidence that she would like her fantasies, Angie obviously didn’t have much experience but wanted to try a whole lot.

  He was okay with that.

  Especially because, going by the survey, she was interested in trying a lot of his favorite things. There was nothing more that Adam liked than playing with a woman’s ass and Angie had indicated that she was familiar with and enjoyed anal play and sex. From the survey she looked a lot more compatible to him than Stephanie from his last Intro Scene had been, so he'd tried building up his anticipation on the drive over.

  It almost worked. At least he wasn't dreading the evening. When he stepped into the club Jared grinned at him in an encouraging way, which was good. Lexie was behind the desk, her expression rather grumpy. She looked at him in surprise as he approached.

  "I thought Andrew was doing the Intro scene tonight."

  "He had to take Irene to the airport."

  Lexie scowled. "Nice of Patrick to let me know."

  "You two need to learn how to play nicely," he teased.

  "I will if he will," she retorted. Adam just grinned. He wasn't one hundred percent proof positive that Lexie had feelings for Patrick that went well beyond sisterly, and that Patrick was fighting his own feelings in that regard, but lately it seemed more and more likely.

  Which was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

  Just then, Patrick stuck his head out the door. "Jared..." His eyes swept around the room and landed on Adam. "Oh hey, good you're here. Never mind Jared."

  Adam walked around the desk, heading for Patrick.

  "I've got a situation downstairs... Tom offered Ellie a club contract last week but she refused."

  "Of course she did. Ellie never signs club contracts." In fact she was almost as well-known as Andrew around the club for her refusal to participate in anything that even resembled any kind of relationship. Which was why they most often partnered each other to play, especially since Ellie was a masochist and Andrew was a sadist. They could satisfy themselves without making any move towards something more. Even Adam had had some short club contracts since Brooke, usually not lasting more than a month and he'd never been interested in taking them outside of the club or extending them. But he had them.

  Club contracts were for people who wanted to play inside the club, exclusively with each other, for a certain amount of time. Some could last up to a year or more if the participants felt they had the right chemistry. The contracts clearly outlined what was expected of each party, but they only existed for inside the club. It was for those people who wanted stability in their play but weren't interested in a relationship outside of the scene.

  "Yeah but she's been scening with him a lot lately, I think he got his hopes up."

  Adam snorted. To his knowledge, Andrew and Ellie were rather unique in that they never signed club contracts. They only scened. Still it had been obvious to most of them that Tom was more than a little interested in Ellie; if she really had been scening with him on a regular basis then he could understand how the man got his hopes up. They had good chemistry, although he sometimes thought that Tom might be a little softer on her than she wanted.

  "Anyway, she turned him down for a scene tonight and accepted an offer from Will, so now I've got to get downstairs because Tom's throwing a hissy fit, Ellie is making it worse by ignoring him, and Will is pissed."

  "As he should be, if Tom's interfering with a scene over a sub that he has no claim to."

  "Yes, thank you for telling me what I already know." Patrick gave him a look, but Adam just shrugged. "Anyway, Angie's in here, so you can chat with her before choosing a room for the scene. Interrogation, jail and school are all open."

  "Okay, thanks." Maybe school. He hadn't been there in a while and that was always a good scene for an Introduction.

  Patrick moved out of the doorway heading for the club and Adam walked into the door of his office, a room that he was very familiar with. Angie, the submissive, was sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk, and she started to rise as he walked in.

  With her brown hair piled on top of her head to show off her unadorned neck, she was a vision in white. The corset pushed up plump breasts, offering them up despite the thin, high-necked top she wore underneath in. In fact, that top only invited someone to rip it away and reveal the lush curves underneath. A short white skirt flirted around her thighs, white fishnets clinging to her long legs, and white high heels that would dig into a man's back when she wrapped her legs around him.

  She was innocence and sin, wrapped together in a sensuality that couldn't be denied. She was a fallen angel.

  Adam's fists clenched as adrenaline and anger rushed through him in equal measure, a roaring sound filling his ears as he sucked in a deep, shocked breath.

  "You."

  Tottering on those thin, high heels, Angel sank back down, her eyes incredibly wide as she stared up at him. Those pouty lips opened in shock, temptingly pink and inviting. All too easy to remember how he'd fantasized about sliding his cock between them on the very first night that he'd met her.

  "Oh my god..." Her voice was breathy and high, nothing like he'd ever heard her sound before. Not at Chained or in The Rivals. "What are you doing here?"

  Slamming the door shut behind him, Adam stalked forward to tower over her. He could see the pulse fluttering in her neck, her hands grasping the arms of her chair and her fingers wrapping around them so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and her pupils dilated as he moved closer. Shock, fear, and arousal all in equal measures. Usually the emotions he enjoyed eliciting in a sub, right now he was too overwhelmed by his own raging emotions.

  Part of him was thrilled to see her. Another part was feeling completely blindsided. What was she playing at, coming to Stronghold as a submissive, when she'd been so very clear in telling him at Chained that she was a Domme? And what about "pretty boy?"

  "My name is Master Adam," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down at her. "I'm supposed to be giving a submissive named Angie her introduction scene. What are you doing here, Mistress Angela?"

  The bite in his voice made her shiver, she seemed to shrink in on herself, exactly the way a submissive caught in bad behavior would. Her hands left the chair and curled in on each other on her lap, as if she wanted to wrap her arms around herself. It wasn't hard to ignore her obvious discomfort with the way he was looming over her.

  He purposefully didn't tell her that he knew her real name. Or that he'd seen her show last weekend. Already he felt like the control had been knocked from his hands. Keeping something from her, when she'd obviously kept things from him, helped his equilibrium a bit.

  At least she looked as shocked as he felt - but then again, she was an actress. How would he really know? She'd certainly fooled all of them at Chained.

  "I'm Angie."

  Her voice was so low he almost didn't hear it.

  "I'm sorry, what was that?"

  Sitting up a little bit straighter now that the initial shock was over, Angel raised her eyes almost defiantly to his. They were even prettier than he'd realized with her head tipped back like this, and the black and gold liner accentuating their almond shape and bringing out flecks of gold in the bright amber color.

  "I'm Angie. That's my... that's my name for this club."

  Well she definitely had some spirit. She was eyeing him warily, as if she expected to need to run at any moment.

  "I see. And what happened to Mistress Angela?"

  Angel took a deep breath, which drew his attention to her breasts. Not where it needed to be if he was going to stay in control of this situation. She was staring at his crossed arms.

  "She never really existed. I just... I'm new to this and I was... I was scared to go to a club without knowing anyone or knowing anything about it. So I went to Chained as a Domme because that s
eemed like a good way to find out what the clubs were like. I always intended on coming to Stronghold later." She met his eyes again, briefly, warily. "I definitely didn't expect anyone else to go to both... they're far enough away from each other that I thought I'd be safe. And I couldn't imagine why anyone would go to a new club like Chained if they were already a member her."

  The look in her eyes was almost accusatory.

  "I was visiting a friend who lives down there," he said, even though he didn't owe her an explanation. He had a much better reason for being down there than she had, as far as he was concerned. Especially since he hadn't been masquerading as anything. The dishonesty rankled; trust and honesty was integral to BDSM and if she wasn’t willing to trust then she couldn’t really be trusted. "So you played at being a Domme at Chained and now you want to play at being a sub here at Stronghold?"

  She sat up straight, obviously indignant at his sarcastic tone.

  "I'm not playing at anything," she said sharply, glaring back. One of her hands rubbed along her upper thigh. On purpose to distract him by making him look at her short skirt, or just a nervous movement? "I am submissive... I was just-"

  "Scared. So you said." His tone was clipped, abrupt, cutting her off. Like that excused a deliberate deception. How would he even know what she was telling the truth about? She'd pretended to be dominant well enough - if she was actually submissive like she claimed. If she wasn't, how far would she go with the deception?

  Was she just someone who got her kicks by visiting the clubs in various guises and doing whatever she felt like? Toying with the people there?

  "Yes Sir."

  He raised his eyebrow at her. She might have said "Sir" but her chin was tilted up defiantly. Not quite a brat... but not exactly submissive either. Leaning over her in a slow and deliberate manner, he placed his hands on the arms of her chair as she scooted back. Her head tipped back further and further, eyes wide as her breathing accelerated.