Stronghold (Stronghold 1) (25 page)

Dammit. 

"So you're a sadist?" he asked,
casually.  Andrew rolled his eyes.  Patrick groaned.  Michael just
smiled. 

"It took me a while to come around to
it, but yes."

He nodded.  That was understandable.
 Movement caught the corner of his eye and he looked over to see Angel
getting up from her seat.  She half-turned to look back at the group of
men at the bar, her eyes flicking over him for a moment before she gave Michael
a stiff nod and started towards the Lounge area. 

The lacy tiered skirt she was wearing flicked
against the backs of her thighs, highlighting those long legs and the fact that
she had a well-rounded ass because there was so much space between the lacy
edge and her skin.  The top she was wearing was, for the first time, not a
corset although it did lace up the back and was held closed in the front by
hooks.  It was made of suede and looked incredibly soft to the touch, as
well as making her upper body easily accessible.  The high three inch
heels made her hips roll as she walked, emphasizing the aura of easy sensuality
that always hovered around.

"Are you seriously going to let her get
away?"

Adam cursed under his breath and he was
moving before he could stop and think about it.  Before he could stop and
ask himself what the hell he was doing.  Not because Michael had goaded
him, but because he could see more than one Dom at the bar watching her
progress towards the Lounge.  If she got there, she'd be followed and more
than one of them would probably ask her to scene. 

He didn't try to explain to himself why the
thought bothered him so much.

With long, quick strides, he passed the
distance easily and caught her by the elbow.  Angel spun around in
surprise, fast enough to break his grip, her body automatically settling back
into a defensive posture. 

Putting his hands up in front of him he took
a step back.  "Sorry."  Dammit.  He'd almost forgotten
that she taught self-defense and that she'd probably be a little bit on edge
right now. 

Looking up at him, the startled, almost angry
gaze softened and she relaxed.  "It's okay.  I'm just
jumpy."

"I also wanted to apologize for how your
Introduction Scene ended."

******

Studying Master Adam's face didn't give Angel
much of a hint as to what he was thinking.

"Apology accepted."

When he'd first grabbed her arm she'd reacted
instinctively, even as the thought went through her mind that no one was going
to bother her here at Stronghold.  She should have felt safe, but since
she'd been on her way over to the Lounge area, cursing this man for not even
glancing her way, she'd been bitten by an attack of nerves.  Now that he
was standing in front of her, looking down at her in a way that made her feel
strangely vulnerable, she was feeling even more unsettled.

Maybe that was partially just because she
could still feel his fingers on her elbow.  Damn he was hot.  It
wasn't fair that she was so darn attracted to him when he seemed completely
oblivious to her. 

Although Leigh had bet that he would follow
her if she headed towards the Lounge area, but maybe he just wanted to
apologize where no one else could overhear?  It would make sense.

"You're planning on scening
tonight?" he asked, with a jerk of his head towards the Lounge Area.
 The question sounded casual, but his blue eyes were looking at her with
such intensity that she felt a wild hope springing up inside of her.

"Yes."

"I'd like to make up for the way your
scene ended last time."  He held out his hand, palm up.
 "Would you like to scene with me?"

Damn his impassive face.  From the way
he phrased the question it sounded like he was just trying to set things right,
to atone for his previous mistakes.  Not because he wanted to scene with
her again.  The only hint that there might be something more, that he felt
just as strong an attraction to her as she did to him, was in his eyes, which
felt like they were boring into her.

She'd told herself that she wanted to come to
the club to experience scening, whether it was with him or with someone else.
 The truth was, she would have been willing to scene with someone else,
but her first option had always been to try again with him.

"Yes, please."  Her voice was
breathy, which made her cringe inwardly as she put her hand in his.  Good
job Angel, just go ahead and show him how much he affects you when he might
only be asking out of professional courtesy.

Whatever, she'd take what she could get.
 If it was anything like last time, it was still going to be really hot. 
And maybe she wasn’t totally crazy, maybe there would be something more than
just professionalism.

To her surprise he didn't immediately lead
her off anyway.  Instead he held her hand between them, his thumb rubbing
over her knuckles.  Who knew that such a tiny gesture could feel so very intimate?
 Yet she knew that if she tried to pull away, he would stop her.
 Control her.  Even in heels it felt like he was towering over her
and even though he hadn't moved an inch, it now felt like they were somehow
standing closer to each other.

It was so pathetic that just a little hand
holding could make her pussy clench.

But it wasn’t just his hand and the caress of
his thumb, it was the way he was looking at her now, the fact that he looked so
damned hot in his button down white shirt and dark blue jeans, exuding the kind
of dominant aura that she'd always lusted after but never had entirely focused
on her.  Not until this man.  The way he was holding her hand right
now reminded her of the way he'd held it when she'd shaken hands with him at
Chained, when she'd felt almost like he was testing her commitment to
dominance.

This felt like a different kind of test
entirely. 

"The same limits as last time?"

All her hard limits, plus the no sex thing.
 Angel jerked her head yes.  She knew she needed to confirm 'no sex'
now, because during her Introduction Scene she would have done anything to have
him fuck her properly.  It was what her body craved, but her brain knew it
wasn't a good idea.  Especially if he was just scening with her again
because it was a responsibility or a make-up session.

Maybe it would have been different if he'd
approached her for no other reason than he'd wanted to, but even then she wouldn’t
want him to think that she was too easy.  It was just, for whatever
reason, she felt very comfortable with him.  And was extremely attracted
to him. 

"Is there a particular room or piece of
equipment that you want to use?  I don't believe the office is in use this
evening, or we could wait for one of the other rooms.  It shouldn't be
long."

Possibilities whirled through her head from
the tour that she'd taken the last time.  But when she had no idea what he
was thinking or feeling or if he was even as attracted to her as she was to
him, the last thing she wanted to do was give herself a false sense of intimacy
by being alone with him.  And there was another piece of equipment down in
the Dungeon that she’d always been wildly curious about.

"The Saint Andrews Cross," she
said.  "And um... not a whip but... something."

"Something."  A little smile
creased his lips for just a moment before it disappeared again.  "I
can work with that."  His thumb brushed over her knuckles again, this
time with a little bit more pressure and he lowered his hand, although he
didn't let go of hers, and started moving.

As she followed him down the stairs, she
tried not to think about how nice it was to have her hand in his, or how warm
his palm was, or how considerate he was as he made sure she didn't stumble on
the stairs in her high heels.  

He's just trying to make things up to you
from last time
,
she scolded herself.  
He even told you that.  
She just
couldn't take it personally that he was being so darn attentive to her this
time around. 

Last time it had gotten her kind of hot that
he'd been pissy.  This time it was making her all warm and tingly that he
wasn't.  So basically, according to her body, the man could do no wrong.
 

Delightful.

They were lucky, there were several Saint
Andrew's crosses free, despite the number of people in the club.  It was
definitely more crowded than it had been during her Introduction Scene,
obviously because it was a Saturday night rather than a Thursday.  To
Angel's surprise, a fair number of them were just watching the scenes rather
than participating in one. 

She looked up at Master Adam as he led her
towards one of the open crosses.  "There's so many people here...
don't they want to play?"

"Not always," he answered, glancing
around the room at the various scenes and their audiences.
 "Sometimes watching a good scene can be just as satisfying as being
in one.  Some people just enjoy watching, period.  And sometimes, if
you don't feel like playing, you still want to be involved in some way."

"Do you ever watch?" 

He paused for a moment and she wondered if
she'd stepped over the line by asking him something personal.
 "Sometimes.  Usually if I'm not here to scene I just stay up at
the bar though."

Angel wondered how often he came to scene.
 Mostly it was just curiosity, flavored with just a tinge of jealousy.
 Definitely not her business though, so she didn't ask.

When they stopped in front of the St.
Andrew's cross, Master Adam let go of her hand and stepped up to inspect the
gleaming wood and the restraints that were screwed into it.  Angel just
watched him, silently.  Apparently satisfied, he turned back towards her
and she braced herself for the order to strip.  It would be a lot scarier
with so many people in the club, but she was ready to do it.

"Hands at your sides," he said
instead, stepping towards her. 

There was a little gleam in his eye as if he
could see that she was unsettled by the deviation from their previous scene's
structure.  But she put her hands at her side, tilting her head up at him
almost defiantly until he raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a hard look.
 A blush spread across her cheeks and she dropped her gaze to his feet.
 

Peeking at him, he was too tall for her to
see his face, but she could see him unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt.
 He rolled them up to his elbows, the quick, brisk motions of a man
getting ready for work.  Why was it so damn sexy?  It wasn't like
revealing forearms was something that was inherently hot, but waiting for him
to roll up his shirt sleeves while she stood here, knowing that she was going
to be punished, pleasured and who knows what else... well, she was drenching
her panties to say the least.

"Stand still."  His voice
barked out and she stilled, realizing that she'd been shifting her weight.
 Trying to peek at him from under her eyelashes again, she caught her
breath at the hungry, almost predatory look that went across his face.

He didn't look at all grouchy or
disinterested or any of the other emotions that she'd seen him show before.
 As she licked her lips to wet them and then followed it with a drag of
her teeth across the lower one, her gaze flicked down, right to his crotch
where he was definitely starting to sport a bulge.  It wasn't super
obvious in jeans, but it was definitely there. 

So he wasn't entirely immune to her.
 Unless he just got hard every time he played, which also seemed possible.
 Might not have anything to do with her at all.  But how to explain
that look?

Then he moved forward to stand directly in
front of her and began to unlatch her top.  Angel's breathing stuttered
and restarted as his fingers pulled apart each hook and eye, slowly revealing
the curves of her breasts and then her stomach, until the entire top was gaping
open.  Her body was practically trembling with how much she wanted him to
touch her, but despite how close he was standing and despite the fact that he
was undressing her, his fingers hadn't actually brushed her skin once.  

It was unnerving.  Exciting.
 Scary.  Anxiety-inducing.  

When he finally put a finger under her chin
and tipped her head back to look at him, she barely managed to stifle a moan at
the fact that he'd finally
touched
 her.

******

God she was beautiful.  Her eyes were
dark, her pupils fully dilated, and her breath was coming in soft pants that
would have told him how aroused she was even if her nipples were drilling holes
through the soft suede of her top.  The fists clenched at her sides opened
and closed again as she struggled to stay still, even though she obviously
wanted to move, to touch him.  

That turned him on too.

"Do you remember the color system from
your Introduction Scene?"

"Red, yellow and green, Sir."

"What color are you right now,
Angel?"

"Green, Sir."  

"Are you wet?"

A blush rose in her cheeks as her eyes
flicked away for a moment in embarrassment.  He tapped her under the chin
with one finger and they refocused back on him.