Mastering Lexie (Stronghold Book 4)

by Golden Angel

  Holy...

  Suddenly shaky, Lexie sat down hard in the middle of the floor, feeling stunned. Feeling... god, she couldn't even describe how she was feeling, there were too many emotions rioting through her all at once. Joy, because he was finally going to let her into the club, because he was going to train her. Slight frustration... what did he mean by train? Were they dating now? Training her to be his submissive or to be a submissive? There was a pretty big difference. Anticipation - who cared what he was going to train her as, as long as he was doing it! It was a huge step, and she'd be able to show him that she could take whatever he could dish out. Fear that she would disappoint him... that she'd fuck this up.

  Arousal. Really hot, anxious, body-tightening arousal. Who knew being told to clean up could be sexy?

  A spurt of excitement flowed through her as she realized that, even if he meant to train her as a submissive, he was treating her like his. This was a test. She knew damned well that Patrick liked to give his girlfriends lists of chores and errands that needed to be done during the day. Most of them hadn't lasted long. Lexie, on the other hand, had found herself floundering a bit without the structure of school.

  Yeah, she had a job. Yeah, she managed to get her bills paid. But the state of her apartment was a pretty good indication of how she managed things that didn't need to be done right away. It was just too easy to be distracted by other things that seemed more pressing than unpacking the rest of her clothes. Heck, even tomorrow, she hadn't planned to do anything about her apartment. Maybe clean up the mess she'd made, but after that she probably would have gone over to her parents, or maybe go to Angel's early, or gone shopping or something rather than unpack the boxes that really did need to be unpacked. Because it wasn't like they had to be done right now.

  Except, now they did. Because Patrick had told her to. Some of the ladies in her Women's Studies classes a couple years ago would kick her butt to hear her say it, but it felt really right. What did they know anyway? Women's rights were about women making the choices that felt good to them, and for Lexie, it felt good to do what Patrick had told her to.

  Picking herself up off the floor, she started picking up some of the clothes around her. Humming softly to herself, she smiled; the wine glasses in the kitchen were completely forgotten.

  ******

  Returning to Lexie's apartment the next day, Patrick beat down the feeling of anticipation that had haunted him ever since he'd left the night before. It had felt incredibly good to give her directions, knowing that he would check up on her, knowing that there would be consequences. He was a bit torn about whether he'd deny her Stronghold or if he'd spank her, but either way, it was the first time in far too long that he'd exerted his dominance over a woman in any kind of real way.

  Once Lexie had started working at the club, he'd stopped playing there... and since he didn't really enjoy casual scenes, he didn't play at home either. Hell, he hadn't dated since Lexie started working at Stronghold, even when she was going out with that little jerk Trevor. That had driven him nuts. The little bastard hadn't deserved Lexie at all, although at least she'd figured that out. Patrick had gotten a couple good swings in before his friends had pulled him off the dickwad. She'd brought Trevor to Stronghold for the very first theme night that Patrick had allowed her to hold.

  The little idiot had tried to convince Lexie to sneak off the main floor and to one of the private rooms - something Patrick had expressly forbidden her to do. She'd refused to leave the main floor, like she'd been told to, and the dumbass had decided to push things on the dance floor. There were plenty of other couples around them doing similar things. Patrick had thought he was just going to have to sit back and watch it, but at the first frantic glance Lexie had sent him as she tried to push Trevor away, Patrick had been beside her in an instant.

  It was one of the first times that he'd lost control over himself in years. He'd just meant to separate them and give her boyfriend a firm lecture about safe, sane and consensual, but then the kid had told Patrick to leave them the fuck alone and grabbed Lexie's breast. Hard enough to make her cry out, and she'd pulled back, tripping over her feet and falling to the ground. So Trevor had ended up with a black eye, a sore jaw, and some bruised ribs by the time Justin had pulled Patrick off of him.

  He'd sent Patrick to his office to cool off, which he was only willing to do because Hilary had already been holding and comforting Lexie. Adam and Liam had helped Justin restore order while Jessica kept everyone away from Lexie, and Chris guarded Patrick's office door. It was not Patrick's best night, despite the fact that everyone had really enjoyed the theme night and attendance had been at an all-time high. He was kind of sad that he'd missed Olivia scaring the shit out of Trevor though. As far as he knew, he was the only one that knew exactly what had gone down; the others thought Trevor had accidentally pushed her. Otherwise, he might not have gotten out of the club alive.

  The only good thing to come out of that night was that Lexie had broken up with Trevor immediately, and Patrick hadn't had to go through the torture of watching her date anyone else since then. Just the torture of knowing that he couldn't claim her for his own, which was bad enough.

  Today was a bit of a test. He wanted to see if Lexie would follow a non-sexual order that wasn't part of a scene. This wasn't just a series of scenes to Patrick, it was the way he wanted to live his life, and he wanted to see if Lexie would follow through or not. Although he liked a sassy sub, he didn't want every minute of his life to be a battle, which meant that his submissive needed to follow orders some of the time. Especially when it came to how she kept her home, because he sure as hell wouldn’t put up with his own home ever looking the way Lexie’s apartment had last night.

  He didn't even get a chance to knock on the door before it opened. A cheerful Lexie was practically bouncing on her feet as she grinned up at him.

  "Five thirty, right on the dot," she said. "As expected."

  "Hey Pixie." Damn she was cute when she was like this. Wearing a grey t-shirt advertising some restaurant and blue jean shorts, she was completely casual and completely beautiful. Her short hair was tucked behind her ears, and she wasn't wearing any make-up at all, and Patrick had the strongest urge to wrap her up in his arms and never let her go.

  "Come on in," she said, bouncing back from the door, pride practically emanating from her body. Patrick already knew that she had done everything he'd told her to. Everything about her demeanor screamed proud submissive, and part of a Dom/sub relationship was acknowledging and rewarding good behavior.

  Warmth flooded his chest, seeing her like this. Knowing that she'd done everything he'd told her to, and that she'd found satisfaction in it rather than resentment or boredom.

  The apartment was spotless, and the number of boxes stacked against her wall had been halved. Granted, other than the clothes, her place hadn't really been all that messy. Still, Patrick liked things neat, and it had made a good test for her. Especially since she'd never been messy before, but, as she'd pointed out, she'd always had her mom on hand to make sure her room was clean.

  "Good girl," he said, enjoying the way her bright blue eyes lit up from within at his words. He'd told her that before, countless times, but this time it had more weight. Because this time, they both knew she'd crossed some invisible line, that it meant something just a little bit different.

  "So now what?" she asked, practically bouncing on her toes as she tilted her head back to look at him, stepping a little bit closer and getting into his personal space.

  Patrick raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

  "I did what you said, right? And I proved I can handle Stronghold. So now what?" She wasn't just eager, her voice was a little bit challenging. Even if he tried to let the situation slide back to the status quo, she wasn't going to accept that.

  He knew it, but he still felt a bit of exasperated resignation at hearing the confirmation of that in her voice. For the past year she'd been working towards this, and they both
knew it. There wasn't anything he could do to stop her, really, but he could at least make sure she took things slowly.

  "Go have fun at your girls’ night. Come back to work at Stronghold on Tuesday, and I'll start training you on Thursday."

  ******

  Even though she felt anxious showing up at Angel's, considering she wasn't sure how Adam or Angel felt about her right now, Lexie still felt like she was walking on sunshine. Literally. Like the entire world was glowing and she was so light on her feet that she was practically floating.

  Patrick was going to train her! She was finally not only going to be one of the submissives of Stronghold, but Patrick was going to train her. Okay, so it wasn't as good as being his submissive, but it was a start. Getting to this point had already been a seriously long haul, she wasn't going to lose patience now when the finish line was finally in sight.

  Hopefully her friends would also feel that whatever punishments their Doms had come up with for them were worth it.

  She was very reassured when Angel opened the door and immediately enveloped Lexie in her usual greeting hug. "Hey honey! Come on in!"

  "Hi," Lexie said, caught somewhere between guilt and bursting with excitement to tell Angel her news. Even though Angel didn't seem upset that she'd been spanked last night on Lexie's behalf, Lexie still couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

  Glancing over her shoulder, Angel leaned in, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Leigh's already here, and she's not in a good place. Please tell me you have good news, she needs something to cheer her up. Or at least, distract her."

  "Definitely good news," Lexie said, feeling her sparkle come back to her eye, even though now she was worried about Leigh. Angel's best friend was a total sweetheart, but she didn't get to come around Stronghold much because her boyfriend wasn't into the scene, and Leigh didn't think he'd approve of it either. Lexie knew that they'd been having some trouble, although obviously she didn't know as much about it as Angel.

  "Great."

  Not waiting for anything more, Angel latched on to Lexie's wrist and practically dragged her through the front hall to the kitchen, where Leigh was sitting at the breakfast bar. Granted, all three of them were wearing pajama pants and tank tops for girls’ night, but somehow Leigh still looked listless, like she'd managed to put less effort into picking out her pajamas than Angel. It was just the way her body was slumped, her shoulders rounded... everything about her looked defeated.

  She did perk up a bit when she saw Lexie though.

  "Hey lady," she said, sliding off of her stool to give Lexie a hug.

  She clung, just a little bit too long, but Lexie didn't mind. It was obvious that Leigh needed the nice long hug. When they pulled away, Angel was bustling around on the other side of the island, pulling out a wine glass for Lexie and finishing up setting out the snacks, a worried smile on her face.

  "Where's Adam?" Lexie asked, as Leigh slid back onto her stool and Lexie pulled out her own. She really wanted to share her good news, especially if it would give Leigh something to think about other than whatever was going on with her and Michael, but just how much Lexie shared would depend on where the man of the house was.

  Angel rolled her eyes. "Downstairs, playing his guitar. He was supposed to be out of the house tonight, but apparently I need a babysitter now, so that I don't get into any more trouble." She smirked, obviously not at all repentant about getting into trouble last night. Which soothed Lexie's lingering guilt.

  "What do you want to bet all the guys bailed on him?" Leigh asked, smiling a little more genuinely and sitting a little bit straighter. For just a moment, Lexie had a flash of jealousy. Leigh was the quintessential girl next door, the one that all the guys wanted to bring home to their moms. She had long brown hair, a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, a slim and sexy figure, and the most interesting eyes. One eye was a hazel green and the other eye was brown; it wasn't super noticeable unless you were actually looking at her, but it was fascinating. Even in her pajamas, everything about her screamed All-American apple pie. It was the kind of look Lexie couldn't ever pull off, even if she wanted to.

  Then again, she'd never seen Patrick go out with a girl that looked like All-American apple pie, so she needed to get her head out of her ass. At least she knew she wasn't the only one who felt that way. Angel's half-Asian ancestry made her look just a bit exotic, but she'd admitted to Lexie before that sometimes she felt envious of Leigh's looks too.

  "I think he was supposed to be hanging out with Andrew and Jared," Angel said, shaking her head. "I'm pretty sure he bailed on them. Although I don't know exactly what trouble he thought we could get into during a girls’ night in."

  "Probably worried about more plotting," Lexie said.

  "So, how did everything go?" Leigh asked, leaning on one elbow as she smiled at Lexie. "Angel told me about Patrick coming out of his office and going down to the Dungeon with you and Mike, but obviously she was a bit distracted after that."

  Angel made a rude noise and Leigh just laughed.

  Filling them in on everything that Master Michael - only Leigh and Angel called him Mike, and only because Leigh's boyfriend was also named Michael - had done during the scene didn't take long. She took a lot more time telling them about the way Patrick and cuddled her afterwards, the drive back to her apartment, his demands, and then today's promise of training.

  "Fuck yeah!" Leigh and Angel were both practically cheering as Lexie wound up the recitation of the past 24 hours' events. It felt like her face hurt from grinning, but she shouldn’t stop. She was too happy about the way things had gone.

  "I mean, it's not a total win," she said, trying to retain a sense of caution and not get overly excited. "He just said he'd train me. I don't actually have any idea what that means."

  "It means that you're going to be in the club," Angel said, her eyes shining. She gesticulated with one hand, holding her glass of wine in the other as she leaned on the counter. The liquid sloshed precariously, since she wasn't paying very much attention to it. "It means that he's going to be doing kinky, naughty things with you, because the man can't bear to let anyone else touch you."

  "He let Master Michael touch me," Lexie argued back.

  "Yeah, and you should have seen the look on his face," Angel said, smirking again. "Plus, he took over the aftercare, and that's even more important. Letting Pretty Boy scene with you was one thing, since it doesn't sound like Mike really pushed any limits, but Patrick didn't want him doing something as intimate as aftercare with you."

  "I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high over here," Lexie said, making a face. She really was, because it would break her heart if Patrick decided he didn't want her. "You're not making that easy."

  "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst," Leigh said, a little morosely. She smiled at Lexie, but the expression seemed forced. "It sounds to me like he's being pretty possessive and not in a big brother way. If he was going to let you play, but just watch over you, he could just hand you off to someone he trusts. Instead, he's getting involved personally."

  Hope lifted up inside Lexie's chest again, but she ruthlessly pushed it down. "Maybe," she said, noncommittally.

  Angel and Leigh just gave her the usual "we're older than you, so we know better" looks. Lexie was pretty used to getting those from everyone around her, so it didn't faze her at all. All of her closest friends were older than her. At least she had more female friends now. Most of her close female friends had drifted away after college, as they all got busy with their own lives. It hadn't bothered her, because she was used to hanging out with the guys more than anything, but she really loved having the girls to hang out with too.

  "So," said Leigh, picking up a handful of chips that Angel had put out. "Where's the cookie dough?"

  "Weren't you just telling me earlier that you're supposed to be watching what you eat?" Angel scolded, even as she headed to the fridge.

  "Seriously?" asked Lexie, looking at Leigh's body. Lexie was
probably the skinniest out of their girls group, but only because Leigh had some serious junk in the trunk. Otherwise, Leigh was just as slim as Lexie was. They were both part of the itty-bitty-titty committee, but Leigh had a J-Lo ass and hips to make up for that. "Please tell me you're not trying to lose weight. Where could you possibly lose it from?"

  "Uh, my ass? But yeah, only about ten pounds, and only because my doctor told me to," Leigh said, groaning.

  "She's pre-diabetic," Angel said. Standing in front of the fridge, she was holding the package of cookie dough and, now, looking torn about whether or not to set it out.

  "I have no idea what that means," Lexie admitted. But it sure as shit didn't sound good.

  "I have high blood sugar, so I have to act like I'm diabetic so that I don't get diabetes," Leigh said. She glared at Angel. "But I'm not diabetic yet and I want to eat some cookie dough. I went for a run earlier."

  "Oh big deal," Angel said, although she finally closed the fridge door and grabbed a plate to put the cookie dough squares on. "You exercised earlier. And now you're eating chips and cookie dough. You realize that negates the exercising right?"

  "I'm going for balance."

  "Should we be like... I don't know, making sure you don't seizure or something?" Lexie asked, still feeling a bit worried. She didn't know anything about diabetes.

  Leigh laughed. "No, seriously, I'm fine. I just have to start exercising more regularly, eat balanced meals, and get my blood tested every three months so that they can make sure my blood sugar levels are going down. Eating treats every now and then isn't going to be a big deal. It's girls' night, I get to splurge."

  "That is disgusting." Adam's deep voice made all three of them jump and squeak in surprise, before bursting into giggles. Wearing one of his signature blue button down shirts, he strolled through the kitchen and over to Angel, making a face at the cookie dough she'd just set out.