Mastering Lexie (Stronghold Book 4) (44 page)

On nights when
they weren't at Stronghold, they'd take turns making dinner and just spending
time together.  Watching movies, playing games, hanging out with friends,
giving and receiving neck and shoulder massages, all things they'd done before,
but with the key difference that it was happening every night and they flirted
and teased each other while they were doing it.  

Before bed,
she'd get a spanking.  So far, she hadn't managed to go one night without
at least a swat or two, but she'd never gone to bed with more than ten. 
Then he'd tie her up or hold her down and pleasure them both thoroughly.

The only thing
that was bugging her, a little bit, was that they hadn't scened at Stronghold
since they'd become a couple.  She didn't count the under-the-desk blowjob
as a scene, because he'd continued working at the time.  Which had been
hot, but not a scene.  Distracting herself by planning a Halloween
Masquerade theme night for the club only worked so much.

They were
there every night on the weekends, and for two weeks she'd spent all evening
with him at the club every night that it was open, seeing their friends,
watching their friends go off to scene, and then talking with them again once
their scenes were over.  Even Jared scened with a newly-single submissive
who had been feeling too insecure to scene with a new Dom until Patrick had
intervened and set her and Jared up for the night.  Lexie knew that
Patrick wasn't match-making, he was just trying to do what was best for the
sub, and it didn't hurt if it got Jared out of the bad mood he was constantly
in.

He'd been
unusually brusque with everyone except Ellie, whom he provided aftercare for on
a fairly regular basis.  Lexie hadn't known, until she started spending so
much time at the club with Patrick, that Ellie rarely allowed any of the Doms
she scened with to provide any aftercare for her.  Either Jared was there
for her, to cuddle and give her water, or she went without and took care of
herself.  Andrew was the only Dom that ever gave her aftercare after a
scene, and when Lexie asked him, he said it was because he refused to scene
with her unless she agreed to it.  He was fairly certain the only reason
she did agree was because she knew he wasn't interested in a relationship and
that he just didn’t want to give up his aftercare time.

Lexie could
see the reasoning.  Aftercare was, in some ways, much more emotionally
intimate than a scene.  Cutting away from a Dom after a scene, rather than
allowing him to continue to care for her, sent a pretty clear signal that
nothing more was going to happen. 

There were all
sorts of things Lexie was learning from watching people at the club. 
Ellie was probably the most interesting, because of her complicated
relationships with the Doms.  Not to mention the fact that whenever Master
Michael was around, she was nowhere to be seen, but once he'd chosen a submissive
to play with, Ellie would pop back up in the Lounge.  Which, confused
Lexie to no end, because she actually saw Ellie watching Master Michael a few
times, and the emotion she saw on Ellie's face could only be described as
longing.  Whereas Master Michael often watched Ellie's scenes with a
completely blank look on his face... and he watched a lot.

Watching
Andrew made her want to kick him.  He really was kind of a man whore, and
even though he was clear and honest about his lack of interest in any kind of
relationship - including his lack of interest in a club contract - some of the
submissives he played with definitely had feelings for him.  Feelings that
were constantly getting hurt as he rotated through them.  The only
submissive he showed any preference for was Ellie, because she was so clearly
on the same page as him.  But it didn't seem to bother him to scene with
subs that obviously had feelings for him, and then basically ignore them the
next day. It was a side of him that she didn't really like.  At all.

Mistress Lisa
seemed to be interested in Freddy as more than just a club playmate.  At
least, that's what Lexie thought.  She hoped they got together, she knew
Mistress Lisa could give him everything he needed, and he was such a
sweetheart.  He deserved a demanding Domme at whose feet he'd be happy to
worship.

There was
definitely something going on between Master Will, who sometimes worked at the
front door, and a submissive named Gina.  She'd heard that they were
playing together a lot, but to her it looked like more than a club
relationship.  Romance was in the air!

Now if only
she could figure out what to do about Leigh... she hadn't come back to
Stronghold again, although she'd promised to be there for the Halloween
party.  Angel was worried that Leigh and Michael were talking again. 
Just as friends, according to Leigh, but still.  It was like Michael was a
spider, and he'd coax Leigh to the outer edges of his web, and then before she
knew it, she'd be stuck again, struggling to free herself.  Talk about
frustrating.

What Leigh
needed was a really good rebound.

"What are
you doing?"  Patrick's voice, filled with amusement, splintered her
musings.

Startled, she
looked up at him.  She was currently sitting across his desk from him,
curled up in one of his chairs - for once not on display - while he did his
paperwork.  

"Reading,"
she said, holding up the book she was holding.  She was re-reading Harry
Potter, because Angel had been bugging her to make the Halloween party a Harry
Potter themed party, and she was thinking about doing it for next year
instead.  It felt a little strange, but also really good, to be thinking
so far in advance when it came to the club.  Even though she and Patrick
had only been official for a few weeks now, she felt good about making plans
that far in advance.

"No you
weren't," Patrick said, tapping his pen on the pile of papers in front of
him.  "You haven't turned a page in ten minutes."

She made a
face at him.  "Okay, I was just thinking."

"About
what?"

"Lots of
things.  People at the club.  Our friends.  Leigh. 
Wondering if we're ever going to do another scene at the club."

"Do you
want to?"  The genuine curiosity in his voice surprised her. 
Had she somehow indicated that she wouldn't?

"Yes. 
I like coming here and spending time with you, but I feel a little left out
when our friends all go off to scene and we don't."

A little line
appeared across his brow as it furrowed slightly.  "Is that the only
reason?"

Lexie blew out
a breath.  It seemed like he wanted something more from her answer, but
she wasn't sure what.  "We're at the club, surrounded by sex.  I
get horny.  I liked scening here."

"What
about scening at home?"

"I like
that too.  Obviously."  A silly grin spread across her face, one
that she was unable to stop, but it didn't matter because he was looking at her
in much the same way.  Only on him, the grin looked even sillier because
he usually stayed so serious, even if she did manage to make him smile a lot
more than he'd used to.  "I don't know.  I kind of miss scening
here.  It's more intimate at home, but there's something really exciting
about scening here where you can hear everyone else."

His eyes
glinted, and Lexie realized that something about their conversation was turning
him on.  Heat curled between her legs immediately, a reaction to the spark
of interest she saw.  Basically, it turned her on that he was turned on.

"And see
everyone else?" he asked, teasing.  "Don't think I haven't
noticed you watching."

A blush pinked
her cheeks.  Yeah, she'd been watching.  Not just the relationships
between people, but also the scenes themselves.  Even though she wanted to
kick Andrew for the way he treated the subs he played with, she'd found herself
fascinated by a lot of his scenes.  He didn't completely avoid the theme
rooms, but he always left the doors and windows open, inviting people to
watch.  She assumed it was more because he wanted to erase any illusion of
intimacy between him and whomever he was playing with for the night, rather than
any interest in exhibitionism.  However, she had discovered that she was
an unabashed voyeur.  There were plenty of times that she got highly
aroused watching things that she would never actually want done to her, but she
was turned on seeing the participants' enjoying themselves.

"Yes, and
seeing everyone else."  She squirmed a little, internally, at the
confession.  Even though she knew Patrick didn’t judge her, she still felt a
little embarrassed.  Sometimes it was hard admitting what turned her on, even
to someone else who was kinky.  Maybe especially because she knew that he
wouldn’t hesitate to
use
that knowledge.

Patrick's pen
tapped a little faster, and she could see him turning over her admissions in
his head.  Thinking.  Analyzing.  Planning.  Which just
turned her on more, knowing that he was already thinking about what dirty,
depraved things he could do to her in the club.  

"I'd
prefer to keep our scenes between us," he said finally, and her heart sank
a little, before gliding back up as he continued.  "Would you be
satisfied with confining our scenes to the theme rooms, the way we did your
training scenes?"

The formal way
he asked made her smile.  It was like he was re-wording the contract
between them in his head, revising it for this new request from her.  She
tried to adjust her smile, because she couldn't help but think he was being
cute and she didn't want him to get prissy because of it.

"I'd like
that," she said, honestly.  Especially when she considered the fact
that if they did scenes in the Dungeon that involved sex, everyone else in the
club would get to see Patrick in all his glory.  She much preferred
keeping that glory to herself, thank you very much.  "In fact, I
think I'd prefer that."

The little
glance that she got in return let her know that he'd picked up on the jealousy
that had infected her when she thought about the other women in the club
getting to see him.  Yeah well... it's not like she cared if he knew she
was possessive.  

"Tomorrow."

"What?"

"We'll
scene here at the club tomorrow," he said, with every evidence of
satisfaction.  Lexie's pussy clenched.  She batted her eyes
flirtatiously at him.

"What
about tonight?"

Patrick shook
his head.  "I need time to plan what I want to do. 
Besides," he gestured at the work on his desk, "I need to finish all
of this if we're going to scene tomorrow."

Lexie put down
her book completely.  "I could help."

She had no
idea what he was doing, but she was willing to do whatever she needed to get a
little pleasure tonight.  The sooner the better.  Thinking about
scening at the club had her all hot and bothered.  Something he probably
already knew, since she was currently topless and her nipples were standing at
attention.  

"No. 
I'll take care of this, you finish your book."  A little smile
crossed his lips, his dark eyes gleaming.

The asshole
knew she was turned on, and he'd decided that he wanted to keep her that
way.  Make her wait for her pleasure.  Which, of course, just made
her more turned on. It was a cruel, cruel cycle.  Underneath her short
skirt, her pussy was already wet and ready to go.  She squeezed her thighs
together.  Of course, he caught the movement, small as it was.

"Feet up
on my desk, spread well apart."  The stern command whipped out,
brooking no room for argument.

She made a
frustrated noise as she obeyed, leaning back in the chair so that she could get
into position.  The rising heat in his eyes meant nothing, she already
knew that he wasn't going to give in to her.  No, he was just going to
make her expose herself, so he could enjoy seeing the evidence of her arousal,
without actually doing anything to quench it.  

"Good
girl."

As he bent his
head back over his paperwork, she considered throwing her book at him.  It
was a paperback, so it wouldn't really hurt.  And it would certainly get
his attention.  Just not in the way she wanted.  Sometimes she liked
to think about the bad things she could do and the way he'd punish her if she
did it.  For throwing a book at his head to try and provoke a reaction...
chances were she'd get a hefty spanking, maybe even a paddling, and then put
right back in the position she was right now, but worse.  Because her
bottom would be red and hot again the seat, she'd be three times as aroused,
and he still wouldn't let her cum.  

Sighing she
settled herself into the seat, opening her book back up and trying to focus on
it.  Maybe if she was good, she'd get a reward when they got home.

******

Tonight was
going to be special.

Not just
because it was their first time in the club since Lexie had become his, and
definitely not because she was snapping mad and sexually frustrated.  Last
night he'd taken her home and, for the first time, had put them both to bed
with nothing more than some cuddling.  It had taken a while for his
restless Pixie to fall asleep, because she'd been turned on the entire time
they'd been at Stronghold and then frustrated with him for not sating her when
they got home.