by Maggie Ryan
“Before we dismiss you, are there any questions?” He half expected to hear from Miss Kennedy but she, like all the others, remained silent. “All right. If you have questions, we’ll be glad to answer them as we go along. Again, good job, and it’s nice to have you aboard. Dismissed.”
He watched as Grace didn’t wait to see if anyone else moved first. She practically flew to the table, where she grabbed her purse and was halfway to the door before he could speak.
“Miss Hensley, if you’ll stay behind, please.” She instantly halted but took a few seconds to turn and another few to walk back towards him. The other women slipped around her, some giving her looks of empathy and others simply keeping their eyes on the door. Despite his praise, he wondered if he’d see all ten back in class the next night. Once Grace was standing in front of him, he said, “Just a moment, please.” He moved away to talk to his men, intending to not only thank them, but to ask them to turn their notes about their observations in before they left the building. Instead, he arrived at the three in time to hear Conner.
“Evidently we didn’t spank their asses hard enough. I would have sworn we’d lose at least a couple. I mean, I considered giving that mouthy Kennedy woman a few extras but with this flimsy fucking paddle, why bother? My girls barely even wiggled.”
“If your submissives didn’t leave your lap with a well-heated bottom, it’s not due to the implement; it’s how that implement was wielded, Conner,” Quentin said, causing the man to turn in his direction. “Please remain in the hall. I’ll see you in a moment.”
“Listen, you can’t send me out just because I was explaining—”
“I didn’t ask for an explanation, Conner,” Quentin said. “I’ll be out in a moment, and expect you to be waiting. Understood?”
He saw Conner’s eyes go to where Grace was standing, and didn’t appreciate the look on his face when he turned back. “Sure thing, boss,” he said with a shrug. “Take all the time you need to… well, to do whatever.” Quentin wanted to slap the insolent tone right out of him but instead said, “Trent, Sloan, thanks. You can leave your reports with Sammy. He’s got dinner waiting.”
“Yes, sir,” the men said, one after another, and then left. Neither one gave Grace a glance.
“Hey, I gotta eat…” Conner began but obviously he interpreted the look on Quentin’s face correctly when he said, “Right, I’ll be waiting for you out in the hall.”
Once the room had cleared, Quentin returned to Grace, noting that she’d hung her purse so that it lay across her body, and had put her arms behind her. He couldn’t fault her for her position but he did fault her for something far more important.
“Relax, Grace. I’m talking to you as just Quentin,” he said and when she did, shifting her eyes to his, he walked to a table and pulled out a chair. “Please, sit.”
“I’d rather stand,” she said, though she did turn towards him.
It was a statement he could understand as he was sure her bottom was tender. “Why didn’t you tell me you were in this class?”
“Why should I have?” she countered. “Did any of the other women personally inform you of their enrollment?”
“I wasn’t asking about them, Grace. I have never even met any of them before tonight. You, however, I not only have met, but we also talked less than four hours ago, and yet you didn’t think it might be appropriate to inform me that you’d enrolled?”
Her green eyes were no longer glistening with tears. Instead, if they were shimmering at all, it was with anger. “Again, I wonder at the question. First, I don’t understand why you seem to be singling me out and second, why would I inform a practical stranger that I was going to spend my evening learning how to be submissive? I had no idea that you’d be the fucking teacher—”
“Don’t cuss,” he snapped.
“I’m not in your class now, Master Quentin, so I can cuss if I bloody well want to!”
Not missing the fact that while not in class, she’d addressed him as if she still were, he said, “Not unless you want to find yourself right back over my knee, young lady. If you don’t believe me, say another ugly word.” Quentin could practically see the desire to do so fighting with the fact that her ass was burning. He discovered he was a torn between being proud when her intelligence won over her stubbornness, and his desire to have that stubbornness give him an excuse to bare her heart-shaped bottom again.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good girl,” he said. “I admit, you have a point…” When her chin lifted with what he considered a bit of unnecessary arrogance, he qualified his statement. “Not about singling you out. I treated you as I would have any of the others…”
“Then why didn’t you let me swap places with Gretchen?”
Quentin sighed and took a deep breath. “Exactly for the reason I stated earlier. No submissive, well, not one in my class, is allowed to direct the lessons. The proper terminology would be topping from the bottom. That is the role of the Dominant. If you continue in class, you’ll learn that yes, a submissive definitely has the right to make choices about her service but, again, only so far, and not in this class. Imagine if all ten of you started making choices or arguing about what you’ve been instructed to do. It would not only create total chaos, it would make the entire point of the class moot. Do you understand that?”
She nodded, albeit a bit reluctantly, and he nodded as well.
“What I was saying was that you have a point in that you didn’t have any responsibility to inform me of your enrollment, especially if, as you stated, you didn’t know I was leading the class.”
“I didn’t,” she said firmly. “And in case you are wondering, Laurie doesn’t know I turned in the application. She knew I was considering a class, but I didn’t actually turn in the paperwork until a couple of days ago. So you don’t have any reason to be pissed off at her.” She paused, straightened her shoulders and then gave him a glare. “And you don’t have any reason to spank her, either.”
So, Laurie had evidently shared that tidbit with her new roommate. It didn’t bother him in the slightest and he had absolutely no thought that Laurie had done so with any intention other than discussing her evening with her best friend. However, he needed to continue as he had begun.
“What happens between me and Laurie, or between myself and any other submissive, is not your business, Miss Hensley. You’ve got enough to concern you with about your own choices. If you aren’t happy with me leading—”
“Oh no you don’t,” Grace interrupted. “You aren’t going to scare me off and, Master Quentin, don’t you dare fail me simply because you have a thorn up your as—butt because you obviously don’t approve of my being here. As you said, it is my choice, and I’m staying. Are we done?”
“Yes, we’re done,” he said. He waited until she’d twirled around and stomped towards the door before he spoke again. “Miss Hensley?”
“What!” she snapped, turning around again.
“Your shoes?”
“My shoes?” Looking down, he heard her curse under her breath as she kicked off the heels and then stomped over to grab her flats. She didn’t bother to put them on, just held them, yanked open the door, and disappeared.
“Well, that went splendidly, Quentin,” he murmured as he walked to the door. With a sigh, he said, “Come on in.” This time, when he gestured to a table, Conner didn’t wait for an invitation to sit. He was seated with a cold look on his face and his arms crossed over his chest, and was already speaking as Quentin took a seat opposite him.
“Look, if you have a problem with my performance—”
“I don’t,” Quentin said, cutting him off. “But I do have a problem with your attitude—”
“What the fuck…”
“Interrupt again, and you can plan on picking up your last paycheck in the morning.” While his eyes flashed, Conner managed to hold his tongue.
“Every woman here deserves respect. You can, and are expected, to correct an infraction, but
only if an actual infraction of the rules occurs. These women are making a difficult choice in choosing a submissive path. If Miss Kennedy had heard you belittling her, I can easily see her deciding that the choice to follow what her heart is yearning for would be ignored.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Conner said. “You have obviously chosen Grace as your class pet, though from the way she stormed out, it seems she might not agree. If you’d have allowed that hot little beauty to switch, I’m sure she would…”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what Miss Hensley would have done. The choice is mine and mine alone, and I better not hear you refer to her or any other student with any disrespect again. In case you are too pig-headed to understand, listen to me very carefully. This is your last chance, Conner. Either get with the program or get out. Is that clear enough?”
Conner took a moment but then nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. When you’ve finished your report, you can grab dinner and leave it with Sammy.”
“Fine, but I can just give it to you now, as I wrote it out in the hall while you were with Gra—Miss Hensley.”
Quentin shook his head and stood. He walked across the room to pick up the heels Grace had kicked off. It might be a shitty thing to do, but if anyone needed to be taken down a peg, it was the man sitting with the obvious chip on his shoulder. Setting the shoes onto the table, he said, “Before you go eat, sanitize these and return them to the cabinet.” He saw Conner’s mouth open and then close. Though he didn’t verbally respond, Quentin didn’t really care. He left the room and went to the elevator. Glancing at Brody’s door, he almost went to it, but instead entered his own apartment only long enough to change before returning downstairs.
“Hey, how did it go?” Sammy asked from where he was preparing some sort of marinade.
“Good,” Quentin said. “The men are going to be leaving some papers with you. I’ll pick them up when I get back.”
“All right,” Sammy said, nodding to two large bakery boxes on the counter and a smaller container sitting on top of one. “Hannah left those for you. The little one is for Brody.”
“Great, thanks,” Quentin said, pulling out his wallet, ignoring Sammy’s wave of his hand that was holding a chicken quarter. Placing two twenties on the counter, he picked up the boxes. “These should keep Brody in the nurses’ good graces for a while.”
Sammy chuckled and Quentin left. He’d have to take his truck as the boxes were too wide to fit into the bike’s saddlebag. Arriving at the hospital, he grinned at the smiles that met him as he approached the nurses’ station. He wasn’t stupid enough to think they were for him; he knew they were practically salivating seeing the bakery boxes.
“Enjoy, ladies, and I wanted to say thanks for taking care of Brody.”
“Oh, he’s a doll,” one nurse said as she reached for a pair of scissors to cut the string around the first box. Quentin was almost to Brody’s door when he heard her squeal, “Oh, my favorite, pecan!”
Pushing through the door, he saw Brody lifting the arm that wasn’t wrapped around Laurie into the air, palm out as if in surrender. “Before you go off, I had no idea that Grace registered for class.”
“Shit, what did she say?”
“She didn’t say anything,” Brody said as Laurie slid out of the bed. “I just got off the phone with Conner.”
“Figures,” Quentin muttered, crossing the room. “Though I can’t believe the little shit called to tattle.”
Brody chuckled as Laurie bent to kiss him. “You don’t have to go,” Quentin said.
“Yes, I do,” Laurie countered. “As much as I’d love to stay and listen to some macho Dom talk, I’m only on my break.” She moved to kiss Quentin’s cheek. “And before you ask, no, I did not know either. I mean, I knew she was considering enrolling but she didn’t tell me she’d decided to go for it.”
“I know, she told me,” Quentin said. He grinned and then chuckled. “In fact, she made sure I knew how innocent you were, and informed me that I’d be a total ass if I spanked you for it.”
“She did?”
“Well, not in those exact words, but I didn’t have to be a mind reader to get the message.”
Laurie laughed as she went to the door. “I told you she was a great girl. Gotta go, I’ll drop by later, honey.”
After she left, Brody waved towards the box that Quentin still held. “That for me?”
“Yes, from Hannah with love,” Quentin said, placing the box on the tray table and moving it over Brody’s lap.
Brody opened it to reveal two slices of pie, one pecan and the other strawberry. “I gotta admit, that woman is my second love,” he said. “Hand me that fork, would you?”
“You’re not gonna share?” Quentin asked, passing him the fork.
“Hell no, all you have to do is walk downstairs to get pie.”
Quentin dropped into the chair and after Brody had taken a huge bite, got up and placed his water mug on the tray as well.
“When you can talk again, tell me what Conner said.”
Brody took a bite of the second slice and a drink of water before he did so. “He was questioning exactly how much authority you have. Seems he’s forgotten that you have as much authority as I do, seeing as you own half the club.” Taking another bite, he continued. “Look, I know he can be a bit abrasive, but maybe you could cut him a break?”
“Cut him a break? I was this close to firing his ass,” Quentin said, rubbing his index finger against the pad of his thumb.
“I know, he told me you kept threatening him,” Brody said, chuckling when Quentin practically growled. “Relax, if that is warranted, then by all means, cut him loose. I’m just saying that with my injury and Dave gone, he fully expected to step up to fill our shoes.”
“That may be,” Quentin said, running his hand over his face. “But I’m telling you, there is something off there. I can give him a little slack, but only a little. I won’t have anyone on our staff, and especially not one training new submissives, denigrating the women.”
“He certainly didn’t mention that,” Brody said, forking the last bite of pecan pie into his mouth. After swallowing, he grinned. “Though he did mention that a certain little artist seemed to capture your attention.”
Quentin was about to protest and then shrugged. “Maybe, but only because she required a bit more attention and instruction than the others.”
“Hmm,” Brody said around the last mouthful of strawberry pie. “Far be it for me to judge not only my best friend, but my business partner and a master instructor. And just for the record, yeah, it pissed me off that Conner saw fit to call.”
“Let it go,” Quentin said. “He’ll either come around or he won’t.” Looking towards the small couch, he said, “I’m a little surprised Grace didn’t call and complain that I broke into your apartment and scared the crap out of her.”
“Now, that’s far more interesting. When did that happen?”
Quentin explained, including the fact that Conner might consider purchasing larger towels.
Brody chuckled. “Why in the hell would I want to do that?”
Quentin had to concede him that point and moved on to something far less stimulating but also far more important. “Have you had a chance to go through anything I brought? You were asleep, and…”
“I did,” Brody said. “Grab the box, would you?”
Quentin did so and then moved his chair closer, setting up the computer on the tray table.
“I transferred your notes to a document,” Brody said, clicking it open after entering his password. “It took some thought, but I remembered the temp hostess was named Marti Ansell. With her and Mike, I think you’ve listed all the staff.” When he scrolled down to the next page, Quentin saw a much longer list.
“These are the names of the people we have checking in with rings,” Brody said and scrolled down two additional pages. “However, since our security wasn’t as intense back then, I’m afraid there are people who
aren’t listed. The fact that it was an open mixer doesn’t help, as I can’t swear that all the guests of members are even recorded.”
Quentin had to agree, again thinking if he hadn’t left that afternoon to drive to Texas, all of this would most likely not be necessary. “How can we ever have a complete list?”
“See these check marks next to some of the names?” At Quentin’s nod, Brody continued. “I started going through the tapes. If I could put a face to a name, I checked them off. I didn’t get a chance to go through the entire film loop—the club opened earlier and closed later than usual in order to accommodate the larger crowd. I’ll continue tomorrow. Any I can’t match to a name, I’ll list their description and the time when they appear on screen. Even though you weren’t there, you might recognize some.” He paused. “I know we want to keep this as hush-hush as possible, but if there are still people we can’t identify, we might need to consider asking the staff…”
“Adam, and maybe Trent and Sloan,” Quentin said.
“Any specific reasoning for not including Conner?”
“Nothing specific, just a gut feeling,” Quentin said.
Brody nodded. “That’s good enough for me. Besides, he was relatively new back then. You know it was Farraday who brought him in to interview.”
“That’s right, I’d forgotten. You’ve made a good start,” Quentin said. “I’ll come back tomorrow and help.”
“That’s fine, just leave the computer on the tray,” Brody said, shutting it down. “Now, go home. I know you’ve got to be wiped.”
“I am a little,” Quentin admitted. “I’ve still got to pick up the guys’ reports from Sammy.”
“You never said how the class went.”
“I think it went well. In fact, we only lost two so far.”
“That’s pretty impressive. It’ll be interesting to see if that holds, but I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t.”
“They all seem eager to learn,” Quentin said and then shook his head. “Though having to pose fully clothed, or just have your bottom bared for a quick trip over a lap, is nothing compared to being told to strip and present.”