by Golden Angel
There was a movie theater where people could watch the exhibitionists in another room next door, but there wasn't currently anyone on camera. Rick shrugged and said that happened every so often. Most of the other rooms that were in use had drapes in place, keeping out the voyeurs, but there was one that looked like an office that they could peek into. A gorgeous blonde in flaming red latex had a man in a suit, with his pants around his ankles, bent over the desk and was spanking him with a large wooden paddle. His hairy butt was already a bright red and his loud yells were just audible through the window.
Maria gasped. "Oh my god… what are they doing?"
"Don’t worry, he likes it," Rick said, watching impassively. Obviously, unlike the other scene at the end of the hall, this one didn't interest him as much. "If he didn't, he would say his safe word. Most people have their own personal safe word, but the club safe word is 'Red.' Say that and everything stops. See him?" He pointed at a man in a vest that was coming up the stairs and looking into the windows, slowly walking down the hallway towards them. There was a bright red badge pinned to his vest in the shape of a keyhole. “He’s a Dungeon Monitor, they come around on a regular basis listening for safe words that aren’t being honored, although Patrick works hard to keep out the assholes who would do that. If someone ignores a safe word, their membership is immediately revoked. Period.”
"Okay." She blew out a long breath, still slightly horrified by what looked like abuse. This had better not be what Rick meant by spanking her. The man in the office was jerking forward with every loud THWAP of the vicious paddle, she could hear the sob in his voice as he yelled out. The amount of trust involved in something like that was almost astounding, it suddenly occurred to her.
Not only would the person taking the punishment have to trust that their safe word would be honored, that the blows would stop when it was said, but the person giving the punishment would have to trust that the word would be said when it was needed. That there wouldn't be any vacillating or putting up a front, while resentment simmered beneath. Especially in the case of when a man was on the receiving end; although the woman was incredibly intimidating, Maria didn't doubt that Lloyd would be a match for her if he wanted to. But she trusted him to take the paddling, to tell her when it was too much, and not to try and retaliate. And in turn, he trusted her with his ass.
The Domme stopped swinging the paddle, letting it drop to her side and putting her free hand on Lloyd's bottom and rubbing it roughly over his abused skin. And his moan was nearly as loud as his yells had been. Maria gasped as he turned slightly to respond to something the woman said and his rigidly hard cock, leaking fluid from the tip, came into view for a few moments. Beside her Rick chuckled. "I told you he likes it. He's in here almost every week. The Dommes love him because he's both eager to please and wants to be punished every time he comes here."
"What's he being punished for?" Maria asked a little faintly.
Rick just shrugged, tugging on her hand to pull her away from the window as Lloyd got back into place and the blonde lifted the paddle again. She didn't try to resist; she didn't really want to watch any more of that. "For a lot of the submissives and dominants who aren't in a relationship, the 'punishments' are usually more of a fantasy scenario than anything else. Like role-playing."
"And for couples?"
"A lot of the real punishments are handled in private, but sometimes a dominant will handle a minor transgression with a less severe punishment scene at the club. That’s what we call funishment, because it’s more about pleasure than anything else. Sometimes, if someone breaks the rules here, they'll be punished publicly here."
"Remind me not to break any of the rules," Maria muttered, shivering a little as Rick led her back down the stairs.
He just laughed. "Don't worry, I won't let you."
The confident arrogance in his voice should have made her laugh, but she just found it reassuring. There was something very protective about his stance next to her, that made her feel safe. As they walked, he put his hand in the center of her lower back, sending a shiver up her spine. All night he’d been touching her in one way or another. Nothing overtly sexual or flirtatious, but just as if it was something unthinking and natural. It made her feel a lot more secure, walking around a sex club filled with people who liked to paddle each other’s asses.
“So are you taking me to the Dungeon now?” she asked, teasing, as they made it back to the main floor and turned the corner to go down another set of stairs. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his group of friends, who were watching them go. Jessica raised her hand and waved, and Maria smiled at her before the pressure of Rick’s hand had her heading down the next set of stairs. She was slightly in front of him, but the connection of his touch made her feel like she wasn’t alone.
And then they walked into hell.
******
Fuck.
He should have asked Patrick what was going on in the Dungeon tonight. Or gone down to check it out for himself before taking Maria down.
The second he saw Christina, trussed up to a frame, with her Dom, Paul, standing in front of her, he knew that he was fucked. Christina and Paul didn’t come into Stronghold often, but when they did everyone stopped to watch. They enjoyed some of the more extreme aspects of BDSM play; Paul was a sadist and Christina was a masochist, and even more than that, Christina tended to be noisy and she liked to beg – beg and be ignored.
The scene was obviously just beginning. Christina was trussed up to a large frame in the center of the room, more than half of the occupants of the Dungeon were watching rather than engaging in their own scenes, as Paul stalked around her, scowling. Although her expression was fearful, Rick could also see the anticipation and excitement in the lines of her body and the hardness of her nipples.
“Please Master!” she called out, in a high shrill voice as he walked around behind her. “I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me!”
The only response was the sound of a cane slicing through the air and then Christina’s body jerked as it landed on her rounded ass, and she screamed, high and shrill.
“Master, I’m sorry!” Another scream. “Please, stop!”
Although they were standing at the bottom of the steps, and had a fairly obstructed view of the proceedings, it was obvious enough even to a complete newbie like Maria what was going on. He felt her gasp, tense, and turn to flee up the stairs.
“Maria, wait!”
Even in heels she could move fast and he cursed himself for not being quicker to turn her around on the stairs once he'd realized what was going on in the Dungeon. Once he realized what a scene like this must look like to someone like Maria.
Chasing her up the stairs, he cursed under his breath, hesitating to reach out and grab her once he was close enough - not sure how she would react. And then she was slipping through the people on the dance floor, headed for the far wall were the locker rooms were. He followed, close enough to touch her, but ambivalent about whether or not to actually do so.
She plowed right through the door of the ladies' room, leaving him standing on the other side, basically wringing his hands like the idiot that he was.
"Dammit..." he muttered, shifting back and forth on his feet. The locker rooms were considered sanctuaries for each gender. Following her in there wouldn't just get him into trouble with Patrick, but with all the Dommes and probably all the other submissives too. But the urge to get to her, to comfort her, to explain to her was overwhelming. Panic was welling up inside of him, along with his self-flagellation for idiocy.
Then, suddenly, he was surrounded by women, who had come at him from behind. A hand gently patted his shoulder, as Angel, Jessica and Hilary all looked up at him, big eyes and creased brows.
"Don't worry, we got this," Angel said as she pushed past him. "Go sit down."
Bossy little thing. She was lucky Adam hadn't heard her talking like that. Using that kind of tone in Stronghold would get her ass beat. Immediately Rick tensed, reminded of the
scene downstairs and why he was standing outside the ladies’ room, helpless.
"What happened?" Hilary asked, pausing with her hand on the door, keeping it from closing all the way after Angel had gone through it.
"Christina and Paul are starting a scene." His tone was flat. Gruff. Even to his own ears it sounded odd.
At least no further explanation was necessary. Hilary had seen one of their scenes before and it had distressed her even as it had fascinated her. He felt Jessica's fingers tighten on his shoulder – in sympathy? encouragement? - and then she and Hilary were both through the door. He had only a moment to glimpse the inside of the room, enough to see that Maria wasn't anywhere within the line of vision from the door, and then it closed again.
Shutting him out.
Clenching his fists, he debated whether or not to follow them. It chafed that Maria had gone somewhere he couldn't follow. He almost wished that she had gone out to the car and demanded to be taken home. At least then he would know what was going on.
"Rick, step away from the door."
He groaned. "Olivia," he said, reluctantly, as he turned around. Just what he needed.
Unlike the girls, who had been encouraging and supportive, Olivia obviously suspected that he had something to do with Maria fleeing from him. Then again, she could just be reading his guilt. Or he could just be projecting because of his guilt.
The fierce redhead raised one haughty eyebrow at him, obviously displeased that he still appeared to be thinking about encroaching on feminine territory. Suppressing an aggravated growl, Rick stepped away from the door.
"Come on, Patrick wants to talk to you," she said, turning and walking back towards the bar table.
Under other circumstances, he doubted that Olivia would have ever deigned to play messenger for Patrick. He was willing to bet she didn't trust the other guys to keep him out of the ladies' room. Really, all it would take was one successful breach and the sanctity of the unspoken rule probably would have been broken forever. Rick doubted he was the first Dom who ever wanted to follow his sub into the locker rooms. The Dommes would, as a group, be pretty pissed about it though. For some reason, none of them ever seemed to have the same need. Olivia would say that’s because none of them ever fucked up with their subs the way the Doms did.
He could feel the curious stares of the other Stronghold patrons as he made his way through the room, following Olivia. Rick was not normally the kind of Dom to be found at the center of a scene like that; he rarely did anything to draw attention to himself or what was going on in his personal life. Which was partly why the attention focused on him when the subs had realized he was looking for something more permanent had bothered him so much.
Rick slid into the seat between Olivia and Chris, who gave him a sympathetic whack on the back, and across from Patrick. It was the only seat left open and it had obviously been purposefully positioned so that he wouldn't be distracted by watching the door to the locker room. In order to see it, he would have to turn his head.
"What happened?" Patrick demanded, almost as soon as Rick had settled into his seat. The big black man looked more concerned than anything, but he was obviously upset about seeing a woman that Rick had brought to Stronghold running through the club in distress. Nothing like owning a BDSM club to bring out the control freak in a Dom.
"Paul and Christina were just starting their scene. I didn't realize they were down there... I don't think she..." Rick sighed. "Maria wasn't prepared." Guilt welled up in him again. He hadn't done a very good job of preparing her.
"You didn't tell her what to expect?" Patrick asked, raising one eyebrow. On his left, Rick could feel Olivia bristling. He groaned inwardly; he really didn't need Olivia deciding to mother hen Maria. His stubborn little tease was hard enough to handle on her own.
"I thought it would be better to show her," he said, although even as he said the words he could feel a flash of uncertainty flicker through him. Why hadn't he sat her down to talk things through? Maybe not beforehand, but once they'd arrived... he could have tried to explain. Tried to prepare her for some of the things she might see. Sure, she'd handled watching Lloyd pretty well but that should have just been a good opening. He couldn't have known that more extreme players like Christina and Paul were down in the Dungeon, but they definitely weren't the only ones who did scenes that didn't appeal to Rick personally and would be difficult for a newbie to understand.
"Does she understand that Christina enjoyed what was happening?" Patrick pressed.
"I'd just finished explaining safe words to her upstairs," Rick said, struggling against the urge to turn his head and look at the door to the ladies’ room. He would know the second Maria came back into the room by his friends reactions. "She took watching Lloyd well enough."
"You... are you... ARGH!" Olivia made a noise halfway between a scream and a growl as she threw her hands up in the air. "What is wrong with you? I thought that Adam had taken the prize for idiocy in the club, but it looks like we have a new contender!"
"Hey!" Adam scowled at her.
"You were an idiot and you know it. Although at least you also knew that Angel had some idea what she was getting herself into, so she didn't get completely blindsided." Even though Rick was keeping his head down, he could feel Olivia's glare. He didn't even try to argue. Testament to how guilty he was feeling. "So you dragged the poor thing here, and she looked absolutely terrified when I saw her in the locker room earlier, then dragged her all over the club without giving her any preparation or a clear explanation about what was going on, and then took her down to the Dungeon and you're shocked that she went running?"
"Of course I'm not shocked," Rick snapped back. "It's nothing I didn't expect in the first place." Lifting up his gaze, he glared, only to meet Olivia's flat, grey eyes without even the slightest sparkle of silver in them. Behind him, he could hear Liam and Andrew murmuring something to each other, but he couldn't tell what. Adam just shook his head and shot Patrick a look, but Patrick was too busy groaning and looking up at the ceiling to notice. Fortunately he couldn't see Chris or Justin's reactions. Like he didn't know he'd screwed up. "I should have never brought her here in the first place."
"That's what you think you did wrong?" Olivia gave him the most pitying, derisive look he'd ever gotten from her. "I was wrong, you're not an idiot. You're well on your way to being hopeless."
"What?" Honestly confused now, Rick turned his head to look around at his friends, seeing if any of them understood any better than he did. They all looked back rather blankly and then turned, almost as a group, to Olivia for explanation. At least he wasn’t alone.
"Men." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms under her breasts in a contemptuous motion. "Let's see. Going by what I've seen so far tonight and the overview that Chris gave me, I'll try to break this down for you. She likes you. Enough that she came here, met all your friends, didn't run out the door when she realized what kind of club it was, stoked up her courage on her own in the bathroom after all of that sank in, went on a tour with you, saw Lloyd getting his ass beat, and still didn't run until she was presented with what probably looked like something brutal, unloving and non-consenting... am I right?"
Rick winced and nodded.
"Then she still didn't run for the outside world. She ran for the bathroom. Not only is she still counting on you to take her home after this, but she didn't even leave the club. Beyond all of that, I seriously doubt you would have brought her here if you didn't have some suspicion that she's at least a little bit submissive. So. Given all of that, and your obvious attraction to her as well as your stated desire for a real relationship, please explain to me why you have done everything in your power to fuck it up before it even started."
His jaw was hanging open as Olivia's words blasted through him, along with her fierce glare and the shocked but comprehending expressions of all of his friends, and he couldn't think of a single thing to say.
"I... I-"
Olivia's slate gaze
softened slightly. "I'm going to hazard a guess that you're freaking out a bit, because you finally found someone that you connect with, on more than one level." Uncrossing her arms, she leaned forward and placed one hand on his forearm, which was resting on the table, muscles tensed along with his jaw as anxiety swirled around his stomach. "You're a bit of a romantic. That’s not a bad thing but I’d bet money you're already all sorts of long-term thoughts and are worrying that she's going to reject you. So you're testing her to see if you should even be thinking that way. But that's not fair to her or you. You two just met. Stop thinking in the long-term. It's too much pressure, and it's too soon to start testing her to see if she might be the future-Mrs.-Winter. Now you think about that, and I'm going to go check on your girl."
Giving him an almost motherly kiss on the side of his head, Olivia hopped off her bar stool and sauntered towards the locker room.
Still utterly at a loss for words, Rick looked back up at his friends.
Adam sighed, giving him a look of deepest sympathy. "Sucks when she's right, doesn't it?"
"Here," Andrew said, pushing his beer across the table. "You need this more than I do right now, I'll get another."
Chris just slapped him on the back again, shaking his head.
"So is anyone else wondering what the hell Lexie is up to?" asked Justin, taking the attention from Rick, which he was immediately grateful for. Patrick scowled.
Rick slowly relaxed as his friends followed Justin’s lead and picked up a conversation around him, sensing that he needed some space to think. If he wanted to talk about what Olivia had just said to him, about her dissection of his motives and behavior, then they'd be willing to listen. But they also respected that he probably really didn't want to talk about it.