Mastering Lexie (Stronghold Book 4) Read online

  "I know someone who likes to cause trouble," Angel said suddenly. Lexie turned to look at her, but she was looking thoughtfully out into the distance, straightening her posture as she began to look more and more excited. Her slightly almond-shaped eyes, compliments of her half-Asian heritage, narrowed even further as a gleeful little smile spread across her lips. "I know someone who likes to cause trouble, has a membership, all of them would take seriously, and would probably be happy to help..."

  Hope rushed into Lexie's chest, making her heart pound as Angel jumped up and ran over to her purse, all eyes following her. The beeping noise of the phone as Angel selected a contact and hit the call button seemed incredibly loud in the silent room. Holding the phone to her ear, Angel's eyes lit up. The room was so quiet that everyone could hear the deep murmur of a man's voice answering the phone, but it wasn't one that Lexie immediately recognized. She grinned at them, eyes dancing with mischief.

  "Hey pretty boy," she purred.

  That rush of hope clawed its way up Lexie's chest and into her throat, making it hard for her to breathe. Angel was a freaking genius.

  ******

  Having barricaded himself in his office, Patrick did his best to ignore the little bit of noise that made it through his thick door from the club. Last night had been the first night without Lexie at the front desk, knowing that she wasn't going to come back. She hadn't answered his call today either. He hadn't expected her to, but some part of him had still hoped that she would. It had surprised him how much he missed having her at the club.

  Even though he'd become used to her presence, he didn't think he'd actually miss her. Perhaps worry about what she was doing, now that she wasn't right where he could look at her whenever he wanted, but not miss her. He kept reaching for the phone, wanting to call up to the front desk to share things with her - funny thoughts or observations - the way he always did, only to remember that she was no longer there. Every time he glanced at the security camera display he expected to see her, and felt the disappointment when he didn't. It was different from the way he felt on her nights off, because this time he knew she wasn't going to be coming back.

  So tonight he'd started to ignore the screens entirely; for once, completely trusting the Dungeon Monitors to handle everything, without him overseeing the whole club. The less he looked, the easier it was for him not to think about how Lexie was never coming back.

  Not that she was ever far from his mind. How could she be when he was sitting at the desk that he'd spanked her over? Flashing silver rings seemed to glint at the edges of his vision, his memory turning over how fucking hot she'd looked as she'd submitted to him. How fucking bad he'd wanted her. How much it fucking sucked to have to wait until her brother got home. He should really Skype Jake and see if he knew when he was coming home yet. The last time they'd talked, Jake had thought sometime in October or November, but he hadn't had a hard date yet.

  The phone rang, distracting Patrick from his musings. He realized that he'd been staring at the same sheet of numbers for the past five minutes without even seeing it. So much for doing the accounting. With a groan, he reached out to pick up the phone without even looking at it. If someone was calling into the office, it usually meant something had gone wrong.

  "What?"

  "Get out here. Now."

  Andrew's voice was thick with the kind of tension that had Patrick springing to his feet. He didn't consider asking what was going on, he just slammed the phone down and headed straight for the door from his office into the club. The bouncer on duty tonight was a newer Dom, named Eric, who couldn't quite afford the membership dues to the club, so was working in exchange for lower fees. He was a good man, a steady man, but he wouldn't be as good at spotting trouble as the long-time members.

  There was no way Andrew would be calling Patrick out of his office, sounding like that, for anything small.

  The second he entered the main floor of the club, Patrick's eyes darted around. He was used to taking in the big picture and focusing on whatever was out of place, but right now it wasn't hard to figure out what the problem was. The Lounge area where unattached subs congregated was almost empty, and those that were still kneeling there were watching the bar with the same interest as the few couples who were on the dance floor. Some of them weren't even dancing, they were just swaying slightly, their attention too caught by the drama at the bar.

  That's where most of the people in the room were, the majority of them clustered at the center of the bar.

  Possessive fury flamed sudden and hot inside Patrick's chest as he focused on the combatants in the center of the stare down. Andrew had his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Michael Waverly, who had one hand on the back of Lexie's neck. Her short black hair was clipped back from her face, so that he could clearly see her mulish expression as she glared up at Andrew, who didn't take his focus from Michael. The short black skirt and bright blue bustier she was wearing screamed "Ready to Play," to any Dom who observed her.

  The other subs were ranged around her. Not just Angel, Hilary, Jessica and Maria, but also others that she'd befriended during her time working at the front desk. Ellie, who was Andrew's most frequent play partner, had positioned herself at Lexie's side - although she was also shooting little looks at Michael. Possibly disapproving, but in his distraction, Patrick couldn't quite interpret what those little looks meant. The only reason he even noticed was because she was the only sub whose focus wasn't entirely on Andrew. He looked like he was holding back an army of rebelling submissives.

  Off to the side, perched on a bar stool, sat Olivia, looking like Queen Bee. The fiery-haired Domme was stunning in all black leather that clung to her like a second skin. Her legs were crossed, and the look of amusement on her face was completely out of place with everyone else's expressions.

  Dammit.

  Patrick knew exactly who she was going to side with. Every step he took towards the group felt like he was actually being pushed, down into a pit that would be impossible to escape, and yet he couldn't do anything else. Lexie was here, in his club and ready to scene, but with another man.

  Probably the only man who would have dared to do this. Master Michael didn't come to the club very often, he'd been too busy, but he'd had a membership for a long time. It had lapsed when he'd moved away and then been reinstated on his return. A decision that Patrick was definitely regretting now. Like Andrew and Chris, Michael was a bit of a prankster with a penchant for trouble. Unlike them, he didn't have a history that would make him feel protective, like a brother, towards Lexie.

  "Move Andrew, you're being ridiculous," Lexie said, biting out the words. Patrick could see the tension along her slender shoulders. With her arms crossed under her breasts, the small mounds were pushed even further up than they had been by the bustier.

  As if sensing his approach, Angel turned her head and saw him, her eyes widening. She reached out to her side and grabbed Jessica's hand, alerting her. Not that they looked any less rebellious. If anything, they looked more defiant than ever. Probably because they knew their asses were going to be grass once their Doms found out what they'd been up to. They shouldn't be at the club by themselves, period, much less involved in a mass revolt. Which every single one of them knew damn well that it was. Their awareness of him passed through to the others next to them. Both Hilary and Maria were avoiding his gaze, but then, Hilary was extremely submissive and Maria didn’t know him that well. Not that it made either of them step back, of course. Even the other little subbies who would normally fear his wrath were bracing themselves. Dammit. It didn’t look like anyone was going to be backing down any time soon.

  "What's going on?" he asked, pitching his voice to carry. Not that he needed to be very loud. Conversation around the club had completely stopped, so, other than the music, there was no sound for him to compete against.

  Lexie stiffened, but didn't turn her head. He felt like growling as he saw Michael's fingers stroke her neck soothingly before he turned to
face Patrick. Holding Lexie by her neck was a surefire way to keep control over her, especially if it was stroked or massaged, something that Patrick knew damn well because he was the one that had trained her to it. She probably didn’t even realize that she responded immediately to pressure on her neck, he’d been doing it for so long.

  "Your bartender is keeping us from going downstairs," he said, mildly, although his hazel eyes flashed with amusement that didn't quite go with the neutral expression on his face. Andrew bristled. Not too surprisingly, since he and Michael had actually become pretty good friends. The other Dom would see this as a kind of betrayal.

  "Lexie's not allowed downstairs."

  He kept his gaze on Michael's face as Lexie opened her mouth, her eyes blazing, but Michael's grip on her neck tightened a bit and she pressed her lips together in a straight line. Letting Michael continue to speak for her. It fucking killed Patrick to see her responding to another Dom. The inside of his chest felt like it was tightening around his lungs.

  "I was informed that Lexie no longer works for you," Michael said coolly. A murmur of agreement went through the subs surrounding them, a few of them crossing their arms over their chests and nodding. "Therefore, you have no authority over her in the capacity of an employee. My membership has been approved to allow me to bring in a submissive, of my choice, to scene with for the evening. I have chosen Lexie."

  Patrick's jaw clenched, his mind racing as he fought for control over his emotions. The determined, defiant jerk of Lexie's chin made him want to spank her ass again. Anger swirled, along with a sense of loss. He was on the verge of telling Michael that his membership was canceled and to get the fuck out when Olivia hopped up from her perch.

  "It's clearly written out in your rules, Patrick," she said, her voice hard. Those dazzling grey eyes of her were as unyielding as slate. A small smile grew on her face, but it didn't reach those stony eyes. "The only right you would have to deny them a scene would be if someone else claimed Lexie as his or her submissive."

  From the emphasis she put on 'someone else,' Olivia made it clear that she meant him. Beside Lexie, Michael stood waiting, looking entirely nonchalant, as if it didn't matter to him what Patrick's decision was. But the stillness in the other submissives standing there, and the Doms hovering on the outskirts, said that they were all waiting to see what Patrick would do. If he denied Michael, it would undermine all of their trust in him. He made the rules, if he didn't follow him, then why should they?

  His fists clenched. Goddamn it all to fucking hell.

  They'd planned every last detail of this. He didn't believe for one second that Lexie had come up with this on her own, and his quick appraisal of her friends confirmed that. Angel might look as defiant as Lexie, but she also looked nervous. Out of all Patrick's friends, Adam was probably the strictest, and he was not going to be happy with her. Especially because she'd involved Michael. Adam and Michael got along fairly well now, but he still struggled with the fact that Angel had a bunch of very close guy friends and that her friendship with Michael had always been flirtatious. Liam rarely punished his fiancé, Hilary, but Patrick doubted she was going to get away with a light spanking for showing up at Stronghold without him there, not to mention in support of Lexie getting into the downstairs portion of the club. Maria looked like she was ready to bolt, but she was also the newest member of their little group and probably felt like she’d fallen in way over her head. Privately, Patrick was surprised that Jessica had managed to get away from both of her boyfriends in order to be here tonight. All of them had probably lied their asses off to do so. Which would mean even more punishment coming their way.

  Lexie would have known that Eric was going to be working as bouncer tonight. He was the only one who would have let her through the door without contacting Patrick, because he was too new to know better. He was also the only one who wouldn't realize that her friends shouldn't be here without their Doms. Having Michael and Olivia with them would have been enough, he wouldn't have thought twice about letting them in without notifying anyone.

  Obviously Patrick was going to have to do a more thorough job training anyone who spent time at the front door. Although, now that Lexie wasn't working for him, it wasn't like she'd know what the schedule was after this week anyway. Jared or Will would have never let her in without contacting him first.

  The public stand-off worked in Lexie's favor too. He had to follow his own rules or invite chaos, not to mention a lack of respect from everyone else in here for not following his own goddamn rules.

  "She hasn't had an Introduction scene," he said, his voice clipped, even though he knew that the excuse wasn't going to work.

  "Michael can handle it," Olivia said, raising her eyebrow at him. If it had been anyone other than Olivia, he probably would have taken them out front to go a few rounds in the parking lot. But Patrick didn't hit women, he only spanked, whipped, flogged and caned them when they asked nicely. Besides, if he was being 100% honest with himself, he wasn't sure that he'd come out on top. Olivia took her Krav Maga seriously, and he doubted she'd have any real concern about damaging him, whereas he would never be able to make himself go all out against her. "Besides, you don't require an Introduction scene for submissives who come in with an established Dom."

  No, he didn't, although he usually assigned someone to 'oversee' any new couple in the club for their first few scenes. Just as a precaution. Not that Michael was new exactly but... fuck, he was going to regret this.

  "Fine. Andrew, get back to work." There was a loud exhalation, as if everyone suddenly started breathing again all at the same time. It would have been funny if he wasn't so righteously pissed off. He looked Michael directly in the eye. "I'm going to be overseeing."

  Master Michael raised one haughty eyebrow. Damn, he was nearly as good as Olivia at that. Beside him, Lexie looked like she was caught between being thrilled and scared.

  Patrick could only hope that scared would win out.

  ******

  "Holy shit." Hilary's soft voice didn't carry far, probably only Lexie and the others within a two foot radius of her could hear it, but it was enough to help break the tension she was feeling. The pretty blonde almost never cursed. She was incredibly outgoing and bubbly, but she was also incredibly prim in some ways. In fact, Lexie was pretty sure that she could count the number of times she'd heard Hilary curse on one hand.

  Swallowing hard, she was tempted to drop a few choice words of her own, but she didn't want Patrick to see how anxious she was. She'd had no idea whether or not this would really work. Just getting into the club had been a major victory. Poor Eric, she hoped she hadn't gotten him into trouble. It wasn't his fault that he was new and she'd taken advantage of that. Patrick was fair though, he wouldn't blame Eric for something he had no control over. Especially because Patrick would blame himself for not giving Eric the four-one-one. But she knew that this was the first, last and only time she'd be able to get into the club without Patrick knowing the second she set foot inside the door.

  Only Michael's steady presence and soothing hand on the back of her neck had kept her from doing anything stupid. Like opening her big mouth and saying something disrespectful enough to get her kicked out of the club, no matter that he’d brought her in. Respecting the Doms, especially those who worked there, was a big thing. Respecting Patrick even more so, and she had to remember to curb her temper and her tongue, something that she wasn't used to. Michael had also kept her from her immediate impulse to drop to her knees and beg Patrick's apology as he looked at her with those big, angry, hurt, chocolate eyes.

  She kind of felt like she'd kicked a puppy. Not that Patrick resembled a puppy in any way, except for the eyes.

  The only thing that kept her from feeling too guilty was that Patrick was obviously not going to step in the way she'd secretly hoped. She'd known from the beginning that there was no way she was going to get downstairs without some kind of confrontation. Olivia had promised that there was nothing Patrick
could do to stop them, not without seriously undermining himself, and she'd stepped in just in time to keep him from saying anything he'd regret, but there was another option too. If Patrick had claimed her, or asked her if he could take over, she could have chosen to go with him instead of Master Michael.

  Instead he was just going to watch? If he didn't have those puppy dog eyes, she'd be feeling pretty hurt and rejected herself, but she could tell that he was upset in a way that had nothing to do with big brother feelings. Not like Andrew, who looked like he wanted to kick Michael's ass. She really hoped this didn't mess up their friendship, although honestly she couldn't figure out why it would anyway.

  Why was it anyone's business who she hooked up with? Or scened with? She could kind of understand Patrick's reluctance because of his friendship with Jake, but why did everyone think they got a say in who she dated? And the whole thing with Jake was why she was doing this now!

  She didn't think her brother would be thrilled about her going to Stronghold, but this was what she wanted. It was what turned her on. There's no way he'd prefer her going to a different club, when this was the safest and closest one in the area, not to mention, it was filled with people who would watch out for her. The hardest part would be if she and Patrick started dating, and then it didn't work out. That's why she wanted to try and push her fantasies about Patrick into reality now, before her brother came home. Having him home would just put more pressure on them, because he’d always be looking over their shoulders.

  It was one thing to come home to see her in an established relationship, where she could say without hesitation that Patrick and his particular kinks were what she wanted, rather than Jake having to sit back and watch them make those awkward first steps. She didn't want the awkward first steps of a relationship to be complicated by her brother breathing down their necks, watching their every move. Everyone else was already going to be. Not that it was really anyone's business but hers and Patrick's. This was just another step in her plan to make him notice her as a woman, rather than as a little sister, and she knew it was working. She just had to get him to admit it. Preferably soon, so that she could show him that she could handle his lifestyle before Jake returned.