by Golden Angel
"Did you hear how loud she shrieked when I grabbed her?" Andrew said, grinning. "This is even more fun than I thought it would be."
Patrick snorted. "If you think that was loud, you've been whipping your subs incorrectly."
"Think you can do better?" Andrew asked, challengingly.
"I know I can."
"Loudest shriek wins?" Rick asked, pretending to stretch out his back nonchalantly even though he couldn't actually stretch anything. It was about the look, not the reality.
"You're on."
They all fist bumped in the center of their little circle, grinning.
"I call next turn," Rick said, just as the door opened behind them.
Turning to see who it was, Patrick just nodded his head.
Unfortunately Rick had inadvertently chosen Erin, one of the Dommes, who didn't shriek at all when he grabbed her. Although she did stomp on his foot and elbow him in what would have been his solar plexus if he hadn't been appropriately covered. He went down with a realistic groan and watched with enjoyment as she literally just pushed past Patrick, ignoring Andrew completely, as she rushed out of the closest opening.
Next up was Jessica, who did shriek and jump when Patrick grabbed her by the waist, hauling her back against him. He got an elbow to the gut for his pains, and then a jab to the head when she spun around to face him. Rick reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her away from Patrick. It took her a second to break his hold, and by then Andrew was circling around. She broke loose and darted between them, going for the opening.
They didn't have a real problem until Ellie, who panicked and screamed with real fear when Andrew grabbed her by the hips. She burst into tears almost immediately, causing all three Doms to start panicking as well. Andrew and Angel took her off to the side, since they were the ones who knew her best. Rick knew she was a masochist and one of Andrew's favored playmates, because neither of them seemed to be looking for anything beyond a scene. She tended to work with the same Doms over and over again, as long as they didn't get attached. Rick had no idea what had set her off, but he had the sinking feeling that, for Ellie, the class wasn’t just about prevention of a possible attack. Of course he knew that the number of women who had been through some kind of sexual assault was infuriatingly high, but he hadn’t actually talked to anyone who had spoken about it from personal experience. Not that they’d told him. Knowing that shy, stunning Ellie might be one of them made him want to go punch things.
Angel escorted Ellie out to the patio to calm down with the help of the other students; Rick hoped that would help. Then Angel headed the lobby again and came back with Lexie. Neither Andrew nor Rick argued when Patrick indicated that he wanted to take her first.
Lexie shrieked like a banshee when Patrick lifted her up off the ground from behind. She pounded on his arms and - going by his grunt - would have gotten him a good kick in the nuts if he hadn't been shielded by all the pads. Patrick let her go and Lexie spun around, jumping at him with her shoulder. She got him right in the chest and the big man went down, a look of surprise on his face that turned to shocked fury when she kicked him in the nuts again. That was when Rick decided to back off, stepping back with his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender, but Andrew still made a feint for her. Even though Lexie could have easily gotten out of the circle at that point, she took the time to kick Andrew in the thigh, hard, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she turned to face Rick.
"Lexie, you're supposed to be trying to escape, not take them down," Angel called out, sounding both exasperated and amused.
"You said in class to try and make sure perps couldn't follow," Lexie said as she darted out of the circle. She was grinning and bouncing just like the others had, but she also smirked at Patrick as he got to his feet, looking pretty disgruntled. Andrew and Rick exchanged looks, but hid their grins before Patrick could see them.
She'd taken the big guy down hard.
"Good job," Andrew said, when it looked like Patrick wasn't going to be the first to speak.
"Yeah, I didn't even want to go after you," Rick told her, reaching out to tussle her hair, since he was close enough. Lexie made a face at him as she ducked away, trying to get her short locks back in place.
"Thanks guys," she said with another smirk, apparently unconcerned that Patrick hadn't spoken up. Sauntering out onto the patio, she looked immensely pleased with herself.
Angel raised her eyebrow at Patrick as soon as Lexie was outside. "What, no accolades for her? She did very well, even if she did forget that her primary goal was to get out of the danger zone."
"She doesn't need any encouragement," Patrick said, but the very edges of his lips were curved up. Just a little.
They got through the rest of the class. Rick managed to make Hilary shriek when he tickled her as he grabbed her by the waist, high and shrill enough that he winced and let go of her immediately. That was the best he managed to do for their little contest, although she'd shrieked at least as loud as Lexie had.
And he learned a few things. Surprisingly, it was the sweetest subs who had the tendency to go for their balls, not something he would have expected. Ellie came back in at the end, grimly determined. Even though he wanted to go easier on her, Angel had warned them not to. They circled around her, whispering, brushing their fingers against her, feeling her tension. This time, Patrick grabbed her with one hand on her shoulder and the other on her waist, and Ellie screamed bloody murder again, but she didn't panic and cry this time. Nope, she managed to break away from all three of them, knocking them aside as she ran out. Fastest time out of the entire class probably. All four of them piled on the praise as she grinned up at them, absolutely buoyant and shining with happiness.
Rick saw Andrew whisper something in her ear before she headed out towards the patio. Probably a promise of a reward during the upcoming weekend.
Before joining her students, Angel helped each of them take off the pads on their hands and forearms. Then she deserted them to help each other get the rest of their gear off. During which time they debated who had won their little bet.
Granted, Ellie had screamed the loudest, but Andrew didn't feel right taking the prize for that. All he would say was that she had some "issues" that he knew about, although he hadn't realized it would be a problem today, her scream hadn't actually had anything to do with him. Which meant that either Hilary or Lexie had been the winning shriek, and even acting as an impartial judge Andrew couldn't decide who had been louder.
Once they'd gotten their pads off, they joined the ladies outside. Grabbing a beer, they stood back along the edges of the patio and just watched the exuberant subs (and two Dommes) enjoying themselves.
"I have to admit, I wasn't sure this was really a good idea when I told Angel she could have classes here, but I'm glad I did it," Patrick said, his gaze scanning over all the women. They'd clumped together in three different groups - those who wanted to sit, those who were standing by the bar, and those who were at the food table. “This is good for them.”
"Her next session's already full, isn't it?" Andrew asked. Patrick nodded. Giving Rick a glance, Andrew tipped his beer towards him. "Are we going to see your girl in one of these classes anytime soon?"
"She's not my girl," Rick said, casually, even though his gut clenched. He'd like to see Maria here, getting friendly with the other subs. Glowing with confidence and delight. "Not yet anyway. Maybe not ever."
"Don't count her out yet," Patrick said, giving the group of women another casual glance; Rick noticed that his friend's eyes were settling on Lexie at least twice as often as he was looking at anyone else. "She was interested Saturday. You fucked up a bit, but if she likes you - and I think she does - she'll get over that. Just give her time."
Angel sidled over to them, and Rick realized she had been just close enough to be in earshot. Granted, he'd thought she was involved in the conversation with Laura, Hilary and Erin since she'd been standing with them at the food table, but she'd heard enough to
be distracted from the female conversation.
"Are you guys talking about Maria?" she asked, popping a cube of cheese in her mouth as she smiled at Rick with interest. "I liked her."
Rick took a sip of beer, trying to shrug off his discomfort. He knew that the girls had liked her. That actually made waiting for Maria to decide if she was going to take a chance on him even harder, adding to the internal pressure he already felt. If he decided he didn't like her then he wouldn't care what the group thought, but since he did like her and he wanted her to like him, he had the uneasy feeling that he'd be getting the blame if Maria didn't come around again. Probably because it was at least 90% his fault if she didn't.
"Don't get your hopes up that she's coming back to Stronghold," Rick said, half-talking to himself. Plus, maybe saying so would help to lower expectations. Angel pouted. "She hasn't been coming to hang out at the pool with me in the mornings like she used to."
"Have you seen her since Saturday night?" Angel asked thoughtfully. "She might just need a little push."
"I saw her Monday." Rick shrugged. Patrick raised an eyebrow at him. The grapevine had probably gotten the news around that he would have been pretty hung over on Monday. Chris had probably told Justin and Jessica, and it would have just gone around from there. Their group really needed to work on personal privacy. Realistically, Rick knew that was never going to happen; it all came from a place of caring and control-freaks. Besides, sometimes that incessant grapevine was a good thing.
"Well?" Angel pushed. "Did she talk to you? Did she avoid you? What happened?"
Frowning down at her, Andrew shook his head. "Adam is way too lenient with you."
"Adam's not here." The saucy tone of her voice was almost insolent. Little brat knew she could get away with more when her Dom wasn’t around.
"Are you saying you'd be behaving better if he was?"
Tilting her head, Angel thought the question over for about thirty seconds. "Yup." She grinned and pointed her finger at Rick's chest. "But he's not here to spank or plug me for being nosy, so spill."
Rick spilled. Why not? After all, getting a female's perspective on Saturday had helped him understand a bit better where he'd fucked up. Maybe Angel would have some advice. After all, she'd managed to work through a pretty major misunderstanding with Adam when they'd gotten together, and Adam wasn't exactly known for being the most forgiving person in the world.
Of course, talking about Maria meant that Lexie also ended up veering into their orbit, tucking herself up next to Patrick. Not touching, but with barely an inch of space between them. Neither of them looked at each other, but they were so obvious about not looking that it caught everyone's attention.
No one was stupid enough to say anything.
"I think you're doing the right thing," Angel said, when he finished. "She likes you, that's obvious. But you kind of messed up by not talking things through with her before bringing her to Stronghold." Angel grinned. "If anyone knows it takes a bit of time to work through that kind of miscommunication and breach of trust, it's me. But I think she'll come around."
"Just don't make her wait too long," Lexie said, still studiously not looking at Patrick. "Sometimes you need to step up and go for what you want, because otherwise it might think you don't want it enough."
Andrew coughed to cover a laugh as Rick nodded his head with a sober look on his face. Grinning even wider, Angel nodded her agreement with Lexie. His usual stoic expression on his face, Patrick just took another sip of his beer.
This was one of those times when no one needed the grapevine to know what was going on. It had become increasingly obvious to all of them that Lexie had a thing for Patrick, and that Patrick was doing his damndest to ignore her blatant attempts to get his attention, continuing to treat her as a little sister. Angel shot Lexie a look of sympathy.
Yeah, the girls were definitely on Lexie’s side. This was going to get interesting eventually, especially if the women decided to get involved. Rick had no doubt they would if they thought Patrick was taking too long; that’s just how they were.
Chapter 12
"Maria! You've got visitors at the bar!"
"Who is it?" Maria asked, looking up from the computer where she was arranging the server schedules for the next couple of weeks. Damien, one of the busboys at the bar, was hanging on the doorway, grinning. He'd been working at Murphy's long enough to recognize her family when they came in.
"New people! And they're hot." Damien grinned at the surprised look on Maria's face and then scuttled away, heading back into the restaurant.
New people? And hot? Slightly confused, she got up from her desk. Maybe they were asking for the wrong person. If Damien had been one of the girls, or gay, she might have hoped Rick was there, but she couldn't see Damien getting excited over Rick.
As soon as she got out to the bar she looked around, but she didn't recognize anyone right away. It was crowded from Happy Hour, so that didn't necessarily mean anything. Giving a second look around, she caught Damien's eye, and he pointed to two women who were sitting at the bar, their backs mostly towards Maria.
Walking towards them, she caught a glimpse of a profile that looked familiar, but it took her a second to recognize Angel from Stronghold. She looked different outside of the club, in the light, but Maria recognized the curls, as well as Angel's distinctive features, which were a beautiful mix of Asian and white. She was dressed in jean shorts and a t-shirt and was sitting with a slender woman whose long brown hair with blonde highlights hung down about halfway down her back. Maria couldn't fully see the other woman's face, although she didn't recognize her, but going by the way her two male bartenders were drooling - and the pouting that one of the cocktail waitresses was doing - the other woman was gorgeous.
Angel turned her head and saw Maria coming towards them, and her smile lit up her face. A sense of relief swept over Maria, almost surprising her; she hadn't realized how much she'd tensed when she saw Angel. A little worry in the back of her mind that Angel had come there to lecture her about Rick was quickly brushed aside in the face of Angel's obvious pleasure at seeing her. The other woman turned, surprising Maria a bit. Going by the way the guys had been salivating, she'd been expecting movie star looks; instead, the woman looked a lot like the quintessential girl next door. A very pretty girl next door, but still. Approachable. Sweet. Apparently completely unaware as to how she was affecting the male population at the bar. Hm. No wonder the guys were tripping over themselves.
"Maria, hi!" Angel said, waving her hand for Maria to come join them. "I hope we didn't call you away from anything important. Maria, this is my best friend Leigh; Leigh, this is Maria - Rick's girl."
Maria coughed at Angel's bluntness, as well as the completely innocent look that went along with it. She had a feeling that Angel knew very well that things still were kind of up in the air about her and Rick.
"Hi Leigh, nice to meet you."
"You too. Don't mind her," Leigh said, jerking her head at Angel and smiling as she shook Maria's hand. She gave Angel a sidelong look. "Miss Nosy over here has boundary line problems. You don't have to talk to us about Rick if you don't want to." Angel made a derisive noise and smiled winningly at Maria. And Maria couldn't help but laugh.
"Actually... I wouldn't mind talking to someone about it," she said a little hesitantly. Angel's smile got even bigger. Glancing over at the bartenders who were obviously listening in to the conversation, Maria gave a little cough. "Um, maybe let's grab a table over there."
Looking over their shoulders at the bartenders, both Angel and Leigh laughed before picking up their drinks. Angel had what looked like a Manhattan, straight up, and Leigh had a Dark and Stormy, one of the house specialties. Also one of Maria's favorites. She loved ginger beer. But she still had work to do, even though she could take a break right now, so no happy hour for her yet.
Sitting down, Maria fiddled nervously with the napkin that was in front of her as Leigh and Angel sat down across from
her. It felt weird to be about to talk about something so intimate, since she barely knew Angel and she had just met Leigh, but she also felt relieved that Angel had searched her out. Especially after the other day in Rick's apartment. Since then, she'd felt more conflicted than ever. Worried, mostly, because a large part of her really wanted to date him and try to be with him, but what if they started dating and she realized that she hated what he needed? Or what if she just sucked at being submissive or couldn't meet his needs in some way? The idea of disappointing him made her feel shriveled and cold inside.
"So what's on your mind?" Angel asked, smiling as she sipped her drink carefully. Most people felt the need to keep their eye on a martini glass, but Angel handled hers like someone who drank them often and felt completely comfortable with the precarious glass. "I'm hoping Rick, because I know you've been on his."
"Really?" Maria perked up for a moment, and then felt herself slump down again a bit. Okay, yeah, she wanted to be on his mind, but she was also a little bit worried about the hopes he seemed to have for her. He'd made it pretty clear that he was looking for a Relationship with a capital R. That was a lot of pressure. In fact, if he wasn't so obviously confident and self-assured, she might have wondered if he was a little desperate in some way. "I mean... yeah... I have been thinking about him."
Angel and Leigh exchanged glances. "Do you mind sharing?" Angel asked, looking a little worried. "I really don't mean to be super nosy, it's just that I know he really likes you, and on Saturday it seemed like you like him."
"I do... I just... I'm a bit scared." Maria fiddled with the corner of the napkin some more, worrying it between her fingers.
"Is it the BDSM stuff?" Leigh asked. "Cuz that kind of scares me. The guys are all nice and everything, and this one," she jerked her head at Angel, "was always interested in it, but I find them all to be a little intense."