Mastering Lexie (Stronghold Book 4) (22 page)

"So, how
was dinner at Patrick's last night?"

Lexie had
gotten used to Leigh's abrupt changes in subject.  She would veer off
topic and then come back to it later, depending on how her emotions were doing.
 

"Good. 
Weird."  She told Leigh about Patrick feeding her.  To her
surprise, Leigh actually sounded intrigued by the idea.  "You know,
maybe you should come spend some nights at the club.  I'll be there
tomorrow night for more training, and then Friday and Saturday I'll be working
there, but I always hang out at the bar afterwards."

"I don't
know..."  Leigh's voice lowered, and Lexie knew that she was about to
hear something that Leigh hadn't told very many other people, if anyone else at
all.  "Part of me is still waiting to see if Michael changes his
mind.  He called me today."

"He
did?"  Lexie tried not to sound too shocked.

"He said
he misses me."  The yearning in Leigh's voice was impossible to
mistake.  "Don't tell Angel though, okay?  She'd have a
cow."

"Yeah,
okay."  Yikes.  Talk about a bad situation.  "So...
did you guys talk about getting back together?"

"No. 
We just talked.  He asked how I've been doing.  I asked how he's been
doing.  We both talked about how hard it's been and how weird it is not to
see each other every night."  Leigh's voice was tense. 
Stressed.  Yet, at the same time, Lexie thought she detected just a hint
of relief.  As if Leigh had been building up to this confession the entire
conversation.  "Actually, it was the nicest and longest conversation
we've had in a while."

Angel had once
told Lexie that she thought Michael took Leigh for granted.  That he kept
her around because the couple of times that they'd taken breaks and he'd tried
to date other people, he'd always failed miserably.  But she also thought
that Michael cared for her a lot too.  When he treated Leigh well, he was
romantic and sweet and wonderful.  She just didn't think he did it often
enough, and that the only times he did it was so that he could make himself
feel like a great boyfriend so that he didn't have to put in the effort the
rest of the time.  Lexie couldn't help but wonder if Michael was already
feeling the effects of not having a loving girlfriend hanging on his every word
and being available for ready sex.  Although, that seemed kind of
cynical.  Because Leigh was an amazing girl.  She supposed it was
possible that every time they went on a break he would realize just how
freaking great she was.  Except, why did he need to keep going on breaks? 

Besides that,
how could he tell her that he wasn't in love with her anymore and then keep
calling her?  Although... okay.  To be fair, even if she and Patrick
didn't work out, she couldn't imagine not having him in her life either. 
He was practically a permanent fixture, someone that had been there so long,
she kind of took his presence for granted too.  Michael and Leigh had been
together for almost seven years.  That was a really fucking long time.

It didn't make
him any less of an ass, but maybe she could empathize a little bit with the
happiness that she heard in Leigh's voice.  

"I guess
it's good to have someone to talk to who understands..." she said slowly,
trying to think of a diplomatic way to phrase her reply.  "I'm not
sure it makes up for everything though."

"It
doesn't," Leigh said quietly.  "But... I can't help but feel
like I got a little bit of the old Michael back.  Just for a little
bit.  Even if he's not in love with me anymore, I'm still in love with him,
and
 I love him.  That's not something I can just get
over."

From the way
she said it, Lexie got the idea that quite a few people were encouraging Leigh
to move forward and get over Michael.   Easier said than done. 
Otherwise Lexie would have done the same about Patrick years ago.

"Of
course it's not," Lexie said, trying to sound both sympathetic and
encouraging.  "But you deserve more than what he was giving you,
too.  Are you sure talking to him now is the best thing for you?"

"Are you
sure that getting involved with Patrick for training and nothing more is the
best thing for you?"  Leigh countered.  There was no anger in
her voice, just compassion.  

"Nope. 
It could definitely blow up in my face and start the drama parade of the
century," Lexie said, grinning.  Hell, it was true, but it hadn't
happened yet.  Might as well joke about it.  Especially because it
made Leigh laugh.

"Woo,
drama parade.  Break out the flags and vuvuzelas."

"Pretty
much.  So, you know, don't tell any of the Sentinels that I'm planning on
breaking the glass case around Patrick's dick.  They'll start building a
float."

Leigh choked
and busted up laughing so hard that she actually dropped her phone, and Lexie
had to pull her own phone away from her ear as the sound of plastic clattering
on the floor assaulted her.  

"A glass
case around his dick?!"

"You
know, because he friend zoned me?"  Lexie asked, but Leigh just kept
laughing, making a negatory noise to indicate she hadn't heard that before.
 "Friend zone is putting the guy's dick in a glass case?  Break
in case of emergency?"

"Oh my
god..." Leigh snorted she was laughing so hard.  "I love being
friends with you."

"I don't
understand how you haven't heard this before."

"Obviously
you're way too young and hip for me," Leigh teased, in between her giggles
which were slowly coming under control.  "I'm too old to be one of
the cool kids.  I definitely did not know that was a thing.  I'm not
sure that works for you anyway though, since Patrick put his dick in there
himself."

"Truth. 
Why do you think my ringtone for him is 'Can't Touch This'?"

Both of them
started laughing again.  Lexie was glad that she could end the phone call
on a good note with Leigh sounding much more like her old self.  She even
said she might come to the club sometime soon.  Lexie hoped so.  She
was pretty sure that Leigh had some submissive tendencies.  Maybe seeing
more of the people at the club would tempt her to try new things, new men, and
help her move away from her relationship with Michael.  It sure as heck
couldn't hurt.

Tonight,
Patrick was going to give Lexie a little taste of the Dungeon.  Just, not
the public part like Michael had.  He'd been planning the scene all day,
after reserving the Doctor's Office for them to play in.  The Jail would
have been his preference, but he'd waited too long to actually book the room
while he tried to decide exactly what he wanted to do with her. 

While Patrick wasn't
as into role-play, it was a fun occasional indulgence.  Plus, he did like
the medical table.  Lots of different possibilities for bondage.  

He'd sent her
a text message earlier in the day, telling her to bring the glass plug that
he'd given her at the end of their last scene and to wear something that could
be taken off easily.  The plug was definitely going to get some use
tonight.  Today he'd also gone on a little shopping trip and bought new
clamps, which he was looking forward to torturing her nipples with.  She had
gorgeous nipples for torturing. 

While he was
waiting for her to arrive, he did a walkthrough of the club, just checking in
on the few scenes that were going on this early in the evening.  Will was
the one who'd reserved the Jail, for himself and Gina, a submissive that he'd
taken to playing with regularly lately.  They'd been scening together over
the summer too, but Patrick couldn't remember if he'd seen either of them with
someone else in the past couple of weeks.  Which bothered him, because
normally he liked to pay attention to things like that.  This business
with Lexie had him distracted.  

Justin and
Jessica were at the bar when he returned to the main floor, and he went over to
chat with them.  Mistress Lisa was working the bar since Andrew had the
night off, and she was chatting with the two submissives who were serving
drinks to the tables, which were empty except for his friends.  The bar
would fill up a little bit over the next few hours, but Thursdays were always
slow.

"Hey you
two," Patrick said, grabbing one of the stools at their table and sitting
down across from them.  Jessica's stool was very close to Justin's so that
he could easily keep his arm around her shoulders, his fingers dragging lightly
across the skin just about her breast.  The curvy brunette was wearing a
wine-red corset with black trim that was low cut enough her breasts were
threatening to spill out.  Probably one of Angel's designs, the corsets
she created seemed to get lower-cut every time she made a new one.
 "Chris not here tonight?"

"He and
Andrew are having man time," Jessica said, with a little giggle.

Justin rolled
his eyes at her irreverence, but he smiled too.  "They're out playing
laser tag right now, blowing off some steam," he said.  His gaze
softened a bit as he looked down at his girlfriend.  "So I thought
I'd bring Jess here for a little bit of private play."

The smile that
Jessica gave him in return was full of adoration.  Sometimes it still
amazed Patrick how well their triad relationship worked.  They spent time
together with all three of them, and they also spent plenty of time in
pairs.  Even though there was nothing romantic between Justin and Chris,
their friendship had definitely deepened even further as a result of the relationship. 
They were a team, in every sense of the word.  Patrick didn't know how
they did it.  He'd wanted to kill Michael when the other man had been
touching Lexie.

It was a Dom's
duty to ensure his submissive's needs were met, but if Lexie ever wanted to try
a threesome, Patrick didn't know if he could do it.  Not once she was
his.

"You're
doing another scene with Lexie tonight, right?" Jessica asked.  She
looked cheerful and excited, but Justin's face blanked out, masking his own
unease. 

Patrick sighed
and nodded.  Most of their group of friends seemed to be holding back
their own opinions, basically giving him the rope he needed to hang himself
with.  Hopefully he didn't end up with his feet dangling.

"Cool. 
I think Rick and Maria are going to be here tonight too," Jessica said,
leaning her head into Justin's shoulder.  "They haven't been around
much lately."

"Probably
because Rick barely lets her out of bed, much less his apartment," Justin
said, chuckling.  Patrick grinned.  Rick had been looking for a relationship
when he'd first met Maria, and even though she hadn't been part of the scene at
the time, the two of them ended up working out perfectly.  But she wasn't
entirely comfortable scening at the club yet, and so they didn't come as often
as Rick used to when he was on his own.  It did kind of seem like the guy
had barricaded them in his apartment lately.  Lucky bastard.

"I think
we're going to head downstairs," Justin said, as Jessica finished the last
of her water.  Patrick knew it was just water because there was no way
Justin would have let her drink anything alcoholic right before scening. 
The club allowed for a two drink maximum before scening, but a lot of the Doms
preferred to keep their subs completely sober.  They could drink after to
make up for lost calories during the scene.  "I want to get Jess on a
spanking bench before the club starts to fill up."

Blushing,
Jessica shivered a little bit in excited anticipation.  Patrick
grinned.  That was exactly the kind of thing he liked to see.  There
were more people coming in the door, probably prompting Justin's
motivation.  The spanking benches tended to fill up fairly quickly.

"Have a
good night," he said, as they stood and started walking towards the
stairs.  Perfect timing, because he could see a certain little
black-haired Pixie coming in and looking around the club with her bright, blue
eyes.  

She was
wearing what looked like a sundress, with thin straps holding it to her
body.  It was dark navy blue with white pin-stripes and the skirt fluttered
around her thighs as she walked.  Definitely a lot easier to get off of
her than a corset or bustier would be.  She looked perfect.  In her
hand was a small purse, just large enough to fit a cell phone and wallet… or a
butt plug.

As he began to
walk towards her, she saw him, and her eyes lit up.  It made his chest
ache sometimes, when she did that.  She would look at him, and it was like
the sun came out from behind the clouds, beaming from her face.  Like just
seeing him made her light up from within.  Now there was something new
though, a sexual awareness and anticipation.  It was there in the tilt of
her head, the little lick of her lips, and the way she took a deep, fortifying
breath, before walking towards him too. 

They met
halfway, her head tilting back, and he had to drag his gaze away from her
slightly parted lips to keep from kissing her.  The temptation was pretty
fucking strong.

"Hello
Pixie," he said, his voice a low growl to keep anyone else from being able
to overhear.  Not that he was saying anything secret, but he just didn't
want to share even the smallest part of her with the others around them. 
People were already eyeing them, way too interested in what was going on.
 "Did you bring your plug?"

Color pinked
her cheeks, but her gaze was steady, and she didn't look at all
embarrassed.  Just excited.  "Yes, Sir."

"Good
girl.  Come on, you've got a doctor's appointment tonight."

Lexie laughed,
moving immediately as he turned.  Unable to resist the temptation of
touching her, now that she was here and next to him, he reached out and put his
hand around the back of her neck.  It was a way of guiding her, not that
she needed it, but just because he wanted to.  The more they did together,
the more he saw that they could actually be compatible, the harder it was not
to give in to the temptation to actually make her his.  The training
collar she was wearing pressed against his palm, almost mocking him because it
wasn't a real one.

He could make
it another few weeks for Jake to get home... couldn't he? 

It still blew
his mind a little bit just how much the way he viewed Lexie had changed in the
past two weeks.  The reality was so much better than the fantasy had ever
been, and he resented having to hold back.  

Which really
wasn't helping him focus his mind on the scene tonight.  He needed to push
out all that extraneous thought and pay attention.

"How was
your day today?" he asked her as they headed down the stairs.  Not to
make small talk, but because he honestly wanted to know.  He always did.
 

"Same as
ever," she said, smiling up at him.  "Long and tedious.  I
spent most of it thinking about you and tonight."  Her lashes lowered
and lifted, so that she could peek through them at him.  

Fuck.  He
knew she said things like that just to mess with his self-control.  The
shit part was how well it worked.  Knowing that she'd been thinking about
him all day, wondering what the evening would bring, anticipating... and
probably getting turned on by it, was exactly the kind of thing that just flat
out did it for him.  He liked knowing that he was on her mind all day,
that the scene was on her mind all day; liked knowing that he'd invaded her
thoughts.  It was selfish and it was also fucking hot.

He didn't
respond, because he didn't have anything to say that wasn't completely
inappropriate for their current situation.  Fortunately, it wasn't like
the Doctor's Office was very far away, it was the first room on the left when
they entered the Dungeon.  Over to the right, Justin already had Jessica
strapped down to a spanking bench and was working a toy into her ass while she
whimpered and moaned.  

Lexie's wide
eyes took in the sight, her breath hitching her throat a little bit, and he
knew that it turned her on.  As pink tinged her cheeks, it was obvious that
her arousal also embarrassed her a little bit.  While she hadn't been
embarrassed at all the first time she'd been in the Dungeon and seen what was
going on, he knew it was always different when it came to friends.  He and
the guys were now used to it, but Lexie had been too involved in her own scene
the last time she'd been down here with Angel and Jessica to notice what they
were going through.  Seeing Jessica in such an intimate situation and
being turned on by it just wasn't something that was possible to mentally
prepare for.

To him, he
just felt smug satisfaction at seeing Justin at work with the woman he
loved.  That was Patrick's favorite part of running the club, seeing
people get what they needed.  Knowing that he was providing it to them.
 

"In here,
Pixie," he said, steering her towards the door to the Doctor's Office,
when he realized that she'd stopped moving.

She jumped a
bit and almost stumbled, her blush deepening.  Glancing back over her
shoulder, she took one last look at their friends before he got her into the
office and the door closed behind them.  Satisfaction pumped through him
in anticipation of the scene, knowing that he was about to fulfill one of his
fantasies.  So it wasn't going to end the way it did when he fantasized
about it; that didn't matter.  He was finally going to get to tie Lexie up
and play with her, almost to his heart's content.

******

Was it wrong
to want to watch her friends get it on?  Because part of Lexie almost
wished that Patrick had let her stay longer in the Dungeon so she could watch
Justin and Jessica.  It had been hot, although also just a little bit
weird because they were her friends, but that wouldn't have stopped her from
watching.  The last time she'd been down in the Dungeon, she hadn't really
gotten to watch any scenes either.  One of these days, she was going to
have to ask Patrick to let them do that.

She was
definitely a lot of a little bit of a voyeur.  Or maybe it was just
curiosity, but either way, she would like to watch the Dungeon more.  Seeing
two people who were obviously in love doing a scene was very different from the
porn that she'd seen.  Most of the time, she didn't watch more than a few
minutes of the porn, because it always seemed way too fake.  What was
happening out there was so real it was tangible, which made the privilege of
watching that much more intimate and also that much more erotic.

The expression
of pleasure and submission on Jessica's face, how obvious it was that Justin
had her full trust, had been beautiful.  The way he'd watched her, taking
note of every moan, every twitch of her body, as he'd been working the plug
into her ass... just as beautiful and also seriously hot.  Lexie couldn't
help but wonder if that's how Patrick had looked last week, when he'd been filling
her ass with the blue plug.  Imagining it made her pussy clench.

"Take off
your clothes and get up on the table."

Lexie looked
up at Patrick.  His expression was blank, but there was pleasure and
anticipation in his eyes.  Holding his gaze, she slipped each of the thin
straps of her dress off of her shoulders, and then let it drop.  She'd
worn this particular dress deliberately, because it was a little loose on her
and had no zipper or buttons.  The fabric slithered over her skin, needing
only a gentle tug when it reached her hips and then it fluttered to the floor,
pooling around her feet.

The
anticipation in Patrick's eyes flared hot and hungry as his eyes took in her
naked body.  She hadn't been wearing anything under the dress.  

Excitement
hummed through her at his reaction to her naked body.  He'd already had a
slight bulge at the front of his pants, now it was much more pronounced. 
He wanted her.