Stronghold (Stronghold 1) (24 page)

"Oh..."  Well that made sense.
 After all, submissives weren't supposed to act the way she often did with
him.  She knew that it amused Mike, which was the only reason he put up
with it.  That, and she wasn't actually his submissive.  She looked
up at him, arranging her face into a solemn expression of reverence.
 "Would you like to come meet my new friends, Sir?"

"Brat," he said, chuckling, as he
began to walk beside her towards the group.  "If you were mine, I'd
beat you."

Laughing, she turned and had to force herself
to keep the smile on her face when she saw Master Adam and Leigh leaning close
in to each other, engaged in what was obviously a private conversation.
 If she'd fooled herself into thinking that she was okay with Master Adam
not being interested in her, the lurch in her stomach told her otherwise.
 Still, she'd done the whole "guy I'm interested in ends up dating
one of my friends" and she'd eventually ended up losing a friend over it.
 She couldn't lose Leigh... she'd go insane.  Leigh was her rock,
just like she was Leigh's.

"Is that Leigh?  That's not
Michael."

"No, that's Master Adam.  And yes,
that's Leigh.  She and Michael are having some issues."  Angel
looked up at him.  "She's actually staying with me too right
now."

Mike sighed and put the back of his hand to
his head in fake distress.  "I guess this means I won't be sleeping
on a bed tonight."

Stifling her giggle, Angel bumped him with
her hip and nearly knocked him off balance.  "Oops, sorry.
 Forgot."

"I should spank you," he muttered,
just loud enough that Olivia obviously overheard him as she turned to greet
them.  "Often."

"Mistress Olivia, this is Master
Mike," Angel said loudly, ignoring his threat.

"Michael, please," he said, looking
pained.  Angel made a face; she knew that he preferred to be called
Michael by other people but she never called him that.  Too confusing with
Leigh's Michael.

"And this is Master Patrick, Master Liam
and his girlfriend Hilary, and Master Adam."

Introductions all around, everyone but Mr.
Grouchy smiled at Michael.  Seeming to ignore the dark look he was getting
from the big blonde, Mike turned and gave Leigh a big hug.  "Hey
beautiful.  You're looking better than ever.  Never thought I'd see
you in one of these places."

"I didn't know we had any new Doms
coming in," Adam said, looking rather antagonistically at Michael, Angel
thought.  Man, he really didn't like her mingling with his group of
friends, or her bringing others to the table.  Too bad, because no one
else seemed to have a problem with it. 

"Michael came with a recommendation from
Brent," Patrick said easily.  He grinned at Michael, who was looking
at Adam with something almost like amusement.  There was a tension between
the two men that was growing uncomfortable although Angel didn't really know
what to do with it.  It wasn't antagonistic exactly, okay maybe a little
on Adam's end, but more speculative than anything else.  "He's a
Master Sadist and has been in the scene for years now.  And you know I've
been looking for more single Doms to help with ah... club
responsibilities."

If anything Adam scowled even more, as though
there were hidden undercurrents to Patrick's rather bland statement that she
just wasn't understanding.  What was wrong with looking for more people to
help out around the club if Patrick needed help?  Angel was feeling
increasingly out of her element.  She realized that something had been
slightly off when she'd first come into the club and now that Mike was here
things had been thrown entirely off-kilter.

"When I showed up at Angel's tonight,
her housemates told me she'd gone out to a club.  I figured they meant
here and followed along," Mike said, sliding his arm around her shoulders.
 She looked up at him, slightly confused.  While they'd always been
physically affectionate, because that's the way she was, it almost seemed like
the gesture was something other than casual for him.  And he wasn't
looking at her, he was looking at Adam.  She looked at Master Adam too,
but he wasn't looking at either of them.  He was looking at the lounge
area.

Thinking about getting a sub to play with?

Her stomach clenched.  If he did, she
was so leaving.  While he might not be interested in her, she was way too
attracted to him and way too emotionally tender after her Introduction Scene
last week; she definitely didn't feel like being in the same building if he was
playing with someone else.  Give her a couple more weeks to get over her
crush and she'd be fine, knowing that he was playing with others would help
with that, but tonight she'd leave rather than be in the same building where it
was happening.

Deliberately she looked up at Mike, trying to
ignore the big, blonde grouchy man that was taking up far too much of her
focus. 

"Are you going to play tonight?"

"No, pest, I only came here to catch up
with you and get my bearings.  That and I know what happens when I'm
unchaperoned with your housemates," he teased.  Angel laughed,
although she couldn't blame him for not wanting to get sucked into video game
land again.  It was so hard to get back out again!  Especially when
the opponents were as engaging and skilled as her housemates.  "You
can go play if you want to."

Angel hesitated for a moment and then shook
her head.  The only man she was currently interested in playing with was
still eyeing the Lounge area and she didn't feel like joining the women over
there.  It would be way too obvious if he ended up going over there and
picking out a sub for the evening and she wanted to leave right afterwards if
she was over there too.  "No.  I'm not going to ditch
Leigh."

Smiling, she reached out to grasp her best
friend's hand.  Her best friend rolled her eyes.  "I told you
I'm fine.  Especially if Mike's going to hang out for a bit."

"Maybe tomorrow.  If we come
back." 

"In that case, I'm going to get a real
drink," Mike said, sliding his arm off of Angel's shoulders and turning
towards the bar.  

The rest of the night went surprisingly well.
 Andrew and Mike hit it off right away, talking about their preferences
for various whips with Patrick’s occasional interjections, making Angel shiver
a little.  She and Leigh sat on two bar stools next to each other, chatting
with Olivia and Mr. Grouchy.  He didn't say much, but he didn't leave to
go play with anyone either.  And he ended up being not all that grouchy;
he and Olivia were a little bit like brother and sister, constantly poking at
and teasing each other.   Eventually those who had gone off to do scenes
came back, at which point Olivia headed over to the Lounge area to pick out a
sub.

By the end of the evening, she and Leigh were
no longer sitting together.  Instead, Leigh was chatting with Rick, Hilary
and Liam, while Angel was seated between Adam and Justin, arguing with them and
Chris about whether the old Batman movies were better than the new ones.  
She and Chris both liked the newer ones better, but Adam and Justin were
holdouts for the originals - although even Chris turned on her when she said
that her favorite old one was the Adam West version.

"Come on!  Bruce Wayne and
Catwoman, tied up with their hands behind their backs, having a super sexy
moment where he promises that he'll protect her?  That was hot!"
 

"You have issues," Chris said,
shaking his head.  "And you can't claim that as your initial interest
in BDSM, because he was tied up too."

"Just because I'm submissive doesn't
mean I can't appreciate a hot man all tied up.  I like to look, I'm not saying
I'd know what to
do
 with him.  And yes, I do think that's
where my interest in bondage started!  Or at least, when I realized what might
get me all hot and bothered."

"With Adam West?"  Master Adam
groaned.  "It kills me that he and I share a name."

"Oh come on, you had to like that show
when you were growing up."

"When I was growing up?  Yes.
 Now?  Maybe if I'm really drunk."

Angel giggled at the face that he made.
 He'd already had a couple of drinks at this point and it had definitely
loosened him up.  "Seriously though, the movie was brilliant!
 Shark repellant?  The penguin submarine?"

"Don't forget the sky riddles,"
Justin said.  They all looked at him in surprise and he shrugged.
 "What?  The Riddler was always my favorite."

When it was finally time to leave, Angel was
a little disappointed.  She'd been having fun.  Especially once
Mister Grouchy stopped being so grouchy and had started actually talking to
her.  She'd really enjoyed their conversation.  While he wasn't as lighthearted
as Chris, that just made it even more of a triumph when she managed to make him
laugh.  And he seemed like he needed more laughter in his life, he was way
too serious. 

All in all, even though she didn't get a
chance to do any of the things she'd initially set out to do that evening...
she couldn't help but feel like it had been a success.

Tomorrow though, tomorrow she was going to go
to the Lounge area and offer herself up as an available sub.  While she
really liked the new friends she was making, she was going to Stronghold to
explore her sexuality not to make new friends.

And if she was really lucky, maybe Mr.
Grouchy would continue to be her tour guide.

So she had a close guy friend that she was
sexually attracted to.  Who was staying with her for the next two weeks.

He was pretty sure he believed Leigh when
she’d told him that nothing had actually ever happened between Angel and
Mike.  He was less sure that he believed the heavy sexual tension between
them completely melted away when either of them was in a relationship with
someone else.

What it really came down to, was trust. 

As did so many other things.  How much
could he trust Angel?  Well he couldn’t really know that without getting
to know her better.  So he’d started that last night, although he’d never
gotten around to asking her if she’d want to do another scene with him at some
point.  Or apologizing.  After “Pretty Boy” had shown up, he hadn’t
been entirely sure that he wanted to jump right into doing that.

But he’d really liked talking to her. 
It had also helped that Michael had spent more time getting to know the others
in the group than he had catching up with Angel.  Adam hated to think that
the other Dom had picked up on the wave of jealousy that had engulfed him when
he’d seen how easily Michael and Angel were physically affectionate with each
other, but he was pretty sure that the other man had caught his glare and
that’s why he’d finally moved away from her.

Someone who was really interested in Angel
wouldn’t do that, would he?

Angel hadn't seemed upset that Michael wasn't
spending any time with her.  Then again, he was staying with her, so would
she be?  And could Adam really be sure that she wasn't just
acting
like she wasn't upset?

The discordant sounds of his guitar strings
as his fingers hit the wrong chord for the umpteenth time made him grit his
teeth.  He just couldn't get it together today, couldn't find peace of
mind even in music and he knew exactly why.  The woman had him all out of
sorts, because for the first time in years he didn't know exactly what to do
about a situation.  

Every time he made a decision, something
would happen and he would be forced to reevaluate.  

His pocket began to vibrate and Nat King Cole
started to sing to him.  Although he didn't really feel like talking, at
least he knew his mother would distract him from his current chaotic thoughts. 
Hell, she’d probably give him some new chaotic ones.  

"Hey mom."

"Hi honey!  You picked up!
 How are you?"  The surprise and pleasure in her voice that he
hadn't let the call go to voicemail made him feel a little ashamed.  While
they talked on the phone on a pretty regular basis, it was always when he
called her.  He rarely picked up when she called.  Having been so recently
confronted with his issues, he wondered if that was really a control thing with
him or just an emotional lashing out about keeping his relationship with her
completely on his terms.

"I'm good.  How are you?"
 With anyone else he would have just asked why they were calling, but he
knew it would hurt his mom's feelings.  Especially with her all the way
across the ocean, he tried to follow the social niceties that made her feel
like he wasn't giving her the brush off.  She'd gotten enough of that from
his dad while they were still married.  Not that she'd complained, which
was the other part of the problem, but it didn't mean she didn't feel it.

"Oh I'm wonderful, Samuel and I just got
home from the river cruise we went on, which was marvelous.  We'd been a
little worried because we heard that sometimes all you can see from the boat is
the trash in the river, but there wasn't anything like that on our
cruise..."  And she was off and running, not requiring anything more from
him than a few non-committal responses.  He could hear the joy in her voice
as she described the various activities and excursions that she and Samuel had
indulged in on their cruise.

When he'd first met Samuel he'd rather
resented that the Englishman had taken his mother away to another country,
especially as it made the choice of which parent to spend the holidays with
even more stressful.  Then he'd realized what a blessing it was, not just
because his mother was more understanding of the fact that he couldn't spend
every holiday with her then she had been when she'd been in the States, but
because of how happy Samuel made her.  

"That's great, Mom," he said when
she finally finished her recap.  "I'm glad that you had such a good
trip."

"We're thinking about coming out your
way soon," she said brightly.  "Can you believe Samuel's never
seen the cherry blossoms in DC?  Or been to the Natural History
Museum?"

"Do you need a place to stay?" he
asked, trying to keep the cringing out of his voice.  The last time his
mother and step-father had come to town it had only been for a weekend, but
they'd flitted around his house like two honeymooners.  Some things, a
child did not want to know about his parents.  Even if he was an adult.

"Oh, I don't think so this time,"
she said breezily.  "We wouldn't want to impose on you for an entire
week, especially when you'll be having to work.  But I definitely want to
spend some time with you."

"And I definitely want to spend some
time with you.  I can take off a day or two for sight-seeing."
 The relief of knowing that they'd find somewhere else to stay made it
easy for him to make the offer. 

"Oh that'd be wonderful!"  his
mother gushed.  "And uh... you should feel free to bring someone
along, if you
have
a someone to bring along."

"Subtle, Mom."

She made an exasperated sound. "Well I
was trying to be."

Laughing, Adam just shook his head, even
though she couldn't see him.  For some reason his mom had always had
trouble coming right out and saying what she felt or wanted or asking what she
wanted to know.  It was the reason she and his Dad had ultimately not
worked out.  But at times like this, it was almost cute.

"There's... there's no one at the
moment."

"Well you can always change your
mind," she said, a hint of curiosity in her voice.  Likely she was
wondering about the sudden hesitation, although she wouldn't ask.  Which
was good because he wasn't sure how he would have answered. 

He was just suddenly wondering whether or not
Angel and his mom would get along.  It wasn't such an incongruous thought
since he'd been thinking about Angel before his mom had called, and they were
the only two women he'd ever met who were capable of throwing him for a loop on
a regular basis.

******

Going by the way Mike was adapting to the
club, Angel was pretty sure that her friend wasn't going to be content with
hanging out at the bar in the main room for long.  She'd seen him looking
over at the available subs more than once, although at the moment he seemed
involved in his conversation with Adam, Andrew and Patrick.  Tonight he'd
said he'd come along so that she could play if she wanted to, without ditching
Leigh, but she was still working up the courage to go over to the Lounge. 

Okay, let's be honest, she was waiting to see
if Master Adam showed any indication of wanting to talk to her before she went
over there.  

She, Leigh and Michael had arrived pretty
early tonight and set themselves up at one of the bar tables; she'd wanted to
give Leigh plenty of time to get settled in before she went over to the lounge.
 Her friend swore up and down that she was okay with Angel doing a scene
and leaving her for a bit as long as Mike was willing to hang out and watch
over her.  And Mike swore up and down that he was fine with that as
well. 

Unfortunately, her number one choice for Dom
and the man she was most attracted to seemed more interested in talking to Mike
than in talking to her.

"Didn't you say you were going to play
tonight?"

"I am," Angel said, refocusing a
little guiltily on Leigh.  "I'm just... you know.  Still
deciding if it's really what I want."

Leigh gave her a look.  "And it
doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you keep looking at Adam every
couple of minutes?"

"Mmmmm."

"Uh huh.  You could just ask
him
you know."

"I'm not totally up on BDSM etiquette,
but no, I'm pretty sure the sub isn't supposed to approach the Dom."

"So go over to the Lounge and wait for
him to come to you."

"In a minute."

"Oh my god."  Leigh looked
almost awed.

"What?"

"You're scared."

"Am not."

"Are too.  You're scared that
you'll ruin your chances with him if you go over to the Lounge.  You're
scared he won't follow you over there."

"You get the weirdest ideas when you've
been drinking."

"One, I've had one drink.  And
don't try to change the subject.  I bet he'll follow if you go over
there."

Angel rolled her eyes.  "And on
what evidence do you base that?"

"The fact that when you're not looking
at him, he keeps looking over at you."

She glanced over at him, unable to help it.
 As usual, he wasn't looking at her.  "Liar."

"Only one way to find out if I'm
right."

"Who made you an expert on
men?" 

Leigh's face fell and Angel immediately felt
like complete and utter shit.  Like she didn't already know that Leigh was
having a hard enough time with the whole separation from Michael thing.
 Not only had she taken yesterday off work, and spent most of it trying to
distract herself from crying, she'd barely been better off today.
 "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that.  I was just joking and
it was stupid and insensitive and I'm sorry."

Reaching out, Leigh placed her hand over
Angel's.  "It's okay, I know you didn't mean it that way."
 She smiled and her eyes regained a little bit of their sparkle.
 "But I still bet I'm right."

Angel peeked at the guys again.
 "Five minutes.  I'll go over there in five minutes."

******

For the first time, he'd come to the club
without knowing what he was going to be doing.  Normally he knew exactly
what he wanted to do at the club, whether it was a scene with a sub or just
spend time with his friends.  Tonight he'd decided to leave it open to a
spur of the moment decision.  It was not a comfortable feeling for him,
but since he couldn't decide what he wanted before he left the house he figured
that it was best to try and stay flexible. 

So far all he'd done was observe.

Observe Angel.  Observe Angel with
Michael.  Observe Angel with Leigh.  Observe Angel as she sat with
Leigh, separated from Michael. 

Somehow they'd ended up in gender groups,
him, Patrick and Michael in one conversation at the bar while Angel and Leigh
sat at a table only a few feet away having their own separate conversation.
 And Adam still didn't know what he wanted.

"So are you going to scene
tonight?"  Patrick asked Michael.  "We've got a fair number
of masochists in the Lounge area tonight.  I'm sure Andrew can point you
in the right direction."

Well that got Adam's attention.  For all
that he'd been standing here getting to know Michael a little better, somehow
the topic of his preferred kinks hadn't come up yet.  Obviously Patrick
already knew them.  And that was definitely a little bonus tidbit of
information for Adam, because he knew very well that Angel wasn't a painslut.

"No, I'm just here so Angel can try a
scene without feeling guilty about deserting Leigh," Michael said easily.
 Completely casual.  Unaffected by the idea of Angel scening with
someone else. 

"So you're not going to scene with
Angel?"  Andrew asked, with a sidelong glance for Adam.  He
ignored both of them and looked over to see Leigh glancing at her watch and
tapping it while Angel gave her a dirty look.  Damn they looked good
together.  More than one Dom was eyeing the two women like they were
considering approaching, even though they weren't in the Lounge area. 

Michael looked right at Adam, catching his
attention and holding it.  "No, Angel and I like to flirt but nothing's
ever going to happen between us.  She's not ever going to be intimate with
a guy that's been with one of her friends, and even if I somehow managed to
convince her to move past that, I know that we're not actually compatible.
 The amount of pain that interests her is way too light for me and the
amount that I like to dole out would be nothing but punishment for her."

The words were said cleanly and succinctly,
and he didn't look away from Adam once as he said them.  Both Patrick and
Andrew looked gleeful at Michael’s bluntness.  Adam just kept his face
impassive, not giving anything away.  He didn't need everyone butting into
his business when he hadn't even decided what he was going to do yet.

Yes, it was nice to have it confirmed by
Michael that nothing was going on with him and Angel, and to get his take on
why.  Even better to know that Michael was apparently actively encouraging
her to find someone else to play with.  But he wasn't going to let anyone
manipulate or push him into something that he wasn't ready for, and he wasn't
ready to make up his mind about Angel.