Tempting the Domme Read online

  “We’ll figure it out if she actually makes it that far,” Olivia said, just as an exasperated Adam came striding after his wife. Since Angel couldn’t move very fast anyway, it only took a couple of large steps for him to catch up and swing her up into his arms. By now everyone in the van was watching and laughing, and Hilary had lowered the music volume in an attempt to hear whatever Adam was saying to Angel. He still wasn’t audible, but Angel came through loud and clear.

  “NOOOOOOO!” Angel wailed, reaching out for the van from the cradle of her husband’s embrace. “I wanna be a real girl again!”

  She sagged dramatically as Leigh came out onto the front porch giggling and gave Angel a kiss on the forehead and Adam’s arm a supportive squeeze before she bounded down the stairs much faster than Angel could have managed. Grinning, she practically skipped to the van as Adam kicked the front door shut behind him and Angel.

  “What was all that about?” Sharon demanded to know as soon as she’d pulled the side door open for Leigh.

  Still laughing, Leigh climbed in and moved between the two bucket seats to sit between Kate and Lexie in the very back. “That was Angel trying to get on Adam’s nerves. I don’t think she actually even wanted to come out, she’s just antsy.”

  “I can understand that,” Olivia muttered as she put the van in reverse. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hilary glance at her, which she ignored.

  No she did not want to talk about her own antsy-ness. She knew exactly why she was antsy, she just didn’t know what she was going to do about it. Especially since part of her, a big part of her, wanted to see what Luke would do next.

  She’d never been in a position like this before and she wasn’t comfortable with it, and she sure as hell did not want to talk about it.

  “Turn the music up!” Sharon demanded, poking Hilary’s shoulder and distracting her. “Let’s get this party started already!”

  Hilary obliged as the other ladies hooted and cheered, and they all began bouncing in their seats. Sharon’s arms waved wildly as she gyrated in her sitting position, and Olivia couldn’t help but laugh as she turned down the next street.

  Man, she loved these crazy women. This had been exactly what she needed.

  ******

  Another night at Stronghold without Olivia, but this time he wasn’t surrounded by couples and he knew she wasn’t just avoiding him. The ladies were out on a night together and the guys had come to hang out at Stronghold on their own. Andrew was working behind the bar and Jared was on door duty, but Jake, Liam, Patrick, and Michael were all hanging out with Luke at one of the tables.

  He’d been a little surprised when Patrick had invited him back to Stronghold tonight, just for ‘guy time.’ Surprised, but also pleased. Taking the opportunity to get to know his new business partners and friends a little better was good, but he’d also thought they might want to go somewhere other than Stronghold. Still, he understood why the bar here appealed more than going elsewhere.

  Good drinks, good company, and some very interesting sights. Like the stately white-haired gentlemen being led toward the Dungeon on a collar and leash by a woman who was just as elegant and white-haired as he was. Luke couldn’t help but be fascinated. He hadn’t really thought about growing older in this lifestyle… or about being led around on a collar and leash. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the latter. Being leashed didn’t exactly appeal, but it didn’t seem to bother that gentlemen, and if Olivia wanted to be the one holding the leash…

  He could see it happening.

  “That’s Marianne and Walter,” Patrick murmured in Luke’s ear. “Been together forty-six years. They’re the oldest couple in the club, although they have some friends they bring with them every so often that are around the same age.”

  Damn. Well, it was good to see people didn’t just lose their interest in kink as they aged, he reflected as he turned back to the table. Although, he hoped Walter didn’t have to do much kneeling. Luke had been practicing ever since class and his knees were getting sore. He couldn’t imagine the constant up and down at Walter’s age.

  Liam had his phone out and was surreptitiously looking at it, half hidden under the table. Luke raised his eyebrows. “I thought phones were banned in here.”

  “Unless you think you might need it in case of emergency,” Patrick said seriously. He scowled, his eyes unfocusing as if he was seeing someone or something that wasn’t actually there. “And Liam can be trusted, unlike some people.”

  “What emergency?” Luke asked, a little confused. As far as he knew, Liam ran a Kung-Fu studio and didn’t have a side job that would allow him to bring his phone in. For a doctor or police officer he could see it making sense.

  Jake chuckled as the others all grimaced with odd expressions on their faces. Like they were trying to look innocent. “What Patrick means is they all get antsy when the girls are out and they can’t be there. Especially tonight because they refused to tell any of these guys where they were going.”

  “Hilary’s still keeping me updated, like a good girl,” Liam said. “She just won’t say where they are.”

  “Because if she did, she knows damn well we’d all be moving this party to somewhere close to wherever they’ve ended up,” Jake said, still looking amused. He shrugged at Luke. “Apparently the ladies don’t feel it’s a proper girls’ night out when they know these guys are lurking nearby.”

  The corners of Luke’s mouth twitched. Yeah, he could see that. Seeing how disgruntled the Doms all were about being left out was pretty funny though. He definitely got the temptation. If he knew where Olivia was and all the other men decided to head over there too…

  No wonder the ladies weren’t telling.

  ******

  There’s always that one guy, Olivia thought with a sigh.

  The ladies had all been dancing and having a great time, mostly in a circle, and then one dumb ass had to go and literally try to rub his ass on them. Which was kind of funny at first. Sharon just laughed, spanked him and turned away, dismissing him. He seemed to take the hint, but after another drink he was back and trying to back up into them. Not just into their circle, literally trying to back into Sharon and rubbing his butt on her again… which was a lot less funny this time around. Sighing, Sharon moved and told him she wasn’t interested.

  Ten minutes later he was back again with the butt rubbing.

  Sharon moved out of the way and he ended up backing up into the empty space between all of them before straightening up—obviously confused that the girl he’d been bumping had moved. Drunken asshat.

  When he turned around to see where Sharon had gone, he found himself facing Olivia, who stood with her arms crossed over her chest and an entirely unamused expression on her face. The others were still in the circle which he’d now entered, none of them looking very happy to have their dancing interrupted. Lexie was glaring particularly fiercely, which wasn’t a surprise, but unlike Olivia she didn’t always have the muscle to back up her death glare.

  Dumbass looked at Olivia and then averted his gaze, looking around at the other women, his expression going from dumbfounded to sheepish, and then he finally slunk away. Hopefully not to return, because Olivia had no problem going to get security if he didn’t leave them alone.

  “You are a goddess,” Sharon said, throwing her arms around Olivia. “I want to be you when I grow up!”

  Chuckling, Olivia patted the shorter woman on the head. It wasn’t Sharon’s fault she was never going to be as intimidating as Olivia. Even if she wasn’t petite and adorable, she had a total subbie attitude for the most part; she was definitely the type to try and avoid conflict.

  “That’s what I’m here for,” Olivia said.

  “Olivia’s a beast!” Kate said cheering and holding up her drink in acknowledgement.

  A little over an hour later—at one in the morning—they decided it was time to go. The dance floor was getting way too crowded to actually move as the younger twenty-somethings were finally jo
ining the party. Not that Olivia had enjoyed packed dance floors even when she’d been a twenty-something. Now she was definitely too old for this shit.

  When Sharon suddenly stumbled, obviously knocked into by someone, Olivia caught her and turned, already pissed off. She’d assumed it was dumbass from earlier… nope.

  Someone way, way worse.

  “You! Bitch!” Roland’s snarling face was definitely close to the last she’d ever wanted to see again. Behind her she heard someone gasp and she wasn’t sure if it was because Kate and Leigh recognized him too, or because he’d just called her a bitch.

  Roland had been one of her Baby Doms. Not one whom she’d liked. He’d been smug, uncooperative, and a misogynist from the very beginning. He was the kind of dominant who bordered more on being abusive than anything else, especially since he didn’t seem to care if his submissive was into what he was doing as long as she followed orders. When he’d been kicked out of the class he’d turned completely deranged in his anger and actually tried to assault Leigh in the parking lot on his way out. Kate had come to her rescue, but it had still scared the crap out of both of them.

  Patrick had immediately not just banned Roland from Stronghold, but had sent his information and what had happened out to all of his contacts, which included all the owners of all the other clubs in the area. Even the ones which didn’t keep as close an eye on their members as Patrick did wouldn’t want a known troublemaker to come in the house.

  “Back off, Roland,” Olivia snapped. From the way his face was flushed, his eyes a little unfocused, she had a feeling he was drunk. Maybe even high. He looked strung out, skinnier than he had been, and not entirely rational.

  “You fucking cunt, you ruined me!”

  “Asshole!” Lexie shouted from behind her, having come up to collect Sharon.

  Shaking her head, Olivia half turned to push Lexie towards the exit, taking up the rear guard in case Roland decided to be a complete shithead again. Of course, pushing Lexie was like trying to push a brick wall. For such a tiny thing, she was really damn good at planting her feet. No wonder Patrick just threw her over his shoulder most of the time.

  “If you’re ruined, it’s your own damn fault,” she said, keeping one eye on him, one on her girls. Lexie was looking positively mutinous and even Leigh and Kate looked like they were ready to throw down. “I haven’t seen you in months. Now back off.”

  “No one will let me into their club!” he snarled at her.

  The people around them were starting to quiet, sensing something was wrong, and Olivia could see one of the security guys making his way over toward them through the crowd. Good. Because she sure as hell wasn’t turning her back on Roland.

  “Like I said, that’s your own damn fault,” she said coldly. “That’s what happens when you attack people.”

  A little more space opened up around them, but Roland didn’t seem to notice. He was too far gone, either into emotion or the alcohol he’d drunk.

  “Fucking cunt!” He lunged at her, hands reaching for her neck, and Olivia’s training took over. Her right arm snapped out and then up, catching his arms and sweeping them to the side, and she got him right in the nose with her left. Just in time she remembered to pull her punch. Just a little.

  She didn’t want to knock him out in the middle of a club and get into trouble herself, after all. The security guy would be there in a second to take care of Roland.

  Roland stumbled back with a high-pitched squeal, his hands coming up to cover his nose just as the security guy reached them.

  “She hit me!” Roland shrieked, pointing at Olivia with one hand, the other still covering his face.

  “I saw,” the man said, his expression solemn. He gave Olivia a nod. “Would you like to press charges, ma’am? We have video.”

  “No, thank you,” Olivia said, mostly just relieved the security guard obviously knew what was up and wasn’t going to make trouble for her. She just wanted to go. “We just want to go home.”

  He nodded again as Roland sputtered, grasping the belligerent man’s arm. “Go ahead, ma’am, we’ll hold him here until he sobers up, which should give you plenty of time to leave without worrying about him.”

  Feeling more tired than ever, Olivia nodded and turned away. Her friends had all grouped together a few steps behind her, worry and upset on their faces. Hilary was on her phone, probably texting Liam again, which made Olivia want to groan. Not that she expected her friends to not tell their respective significant others about running into Roland, but it was just another thing she was going to have to deal with later.

  “Come on, let’s go,” she said, waving her hand at them. “Nothing to see here.”

  Giving her a lopsided smile, Hilary looped her arm around Olivia’s waist as they exited the club.

  “I definitely want to be you when I grow up,” Sharon said, nodding her head firmly as she and Kate linked arms. Ahead of them, Leigh, Lexie, and Ellie were all chattering away at each other, back to laughing and enjoying themselves, already pushing the run in with Roland out of their minds. Olivia could feel herself relaxing again.

  Her friends were awesome.

  ******

  “Shit.” Liam jumped up from his seat, running his hand through his hair. “The girls ran into Roland.”

  Jake looked as confused as Luke, but everyone else jumped up from their seats suddenly on high alert, which made Luke anxious even though he didn’t know who Roland was or what was going on.

  “Where are they?” Patrick demanded, even though he was already pulling out his own phone, as was Michael. He scowled, presumably because his own girlfriend hadn’t texted him, and immediately began pressing the screen.

  “She won’t say, she just says they were already leaving and Olivia’s taking everyone home.” Liam sounded more than a little frustrated.

  “Who’s Roland?” Luke asked.

  He and Jake got the quickie explanation as the guys rounded up Andrew and Jared and the whole group split up to head home and confirm their ladies were okay. Jake went with Patrick, wanting to see his sister after hearing the explanation. Which left Luke all alone, feeling rather frustrated that he had no right to go to Olivia and make sure she was okay.

  Going home alone and wondering exactly what had gone down and how Olivia was really sucked. It sucked a lot.

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  Chapter 7

  Even though he had absolutely no reason to be there early on a Sunday, Luke found himself unable to stay away from Marquis. He’d texted a bit with Patrick and Michael first thing that morning, so he knew all the ladies had gotten home safely, but he still just felt the need to see Olivia. He didn’t know if she’d be at Marquis, but since it was the only chance he had of seeing her—unless he wanted to go full on stalker—he’d found himself showing up after eating lunch. Just in hopes she’d be there.

  Just in case she wasn’t, he’d brought another present to leave on her desk. So either way he could justify his visit to himself.

  When he saw the light shining from under her door, his face split into a grin and he practically jumped forward. Then he paused, looking at the offering in his hand… did he want to just give it to her or save it for later?

  Ah, fuck it. If he saved it for later he’d have to wait to see her and he was too impatient for that. Which was kind of funny because he was usually considered the patient brother. If only Nick could see him now.

  He rapped his knuckles against her door.

  “Come in.” Her voice sounded just a little confused—which wasn’t surprising, there was no reason for anyone else to be in the club right now. When he opened the door, she blinked in surprise and then gave him a look. The look that said ‘you really shouldn’t be here’ but also ‘I’m kind of happy to see you’ all at the same time. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and was wearing one of her usual business-y button-down shirts, this one a dark purple that made her hair look brilliantly red. Stunningly gor
geous, as always, even with her expression turning stern. Of course, when she looked stern it just made her hotter as far as he was concerned.

  “I brought you a present,” he said, before she could decide whether or not she should scold him for showing up at her office door. He strode across the office quickly, holding it out in front of him like a shield, as an expression of bemusement cross her face.

  Placing it on the desk in front of her, he grinned. Olivia’s lips pursed.

  “This is not as cute as you think it is,” she said, but her tone of voice wasn’t entirely convincing as she reached out to stroke the soft leather of the flogger’s strands.

  Luke thought it was pretty cute. A little flogger bouquet with a crop centerpiece. It almost looked like a floral arrangement. He’d found it at the same kink store he’d bought his pants from. They had some interesting stuff there.

  “Sure it is,” he said cheerfully, sitting down in what he was starting to think of as ‘his’ chair. Olivia eyed him, her lips still pursed, but she didn’t tell him to get out. “Besides, after last night I figured you could use a couple extra implements on hand. One of those floggers is pocket sized.”

  “Men’s pockets maybe,” she said, a reluctant smile sliding across her lips. “Women’s pockets suck.”

  “Purse sized, then,” he said, refusing to be defeated. Especially when she was smiling for him.

  “So, heard about last night already?” she asked, a little ruefully. “Gossip is getting even faster around here.”

  “Actually, I was at Stronghold with the guys when Hilary texted Liam,” he explained, not liking the idea that she would think he was part of the gossip chain. He didn’t mind when gossip benefited him, but he didn’t want to really be a part of it. Olivia was definitely more close-mouthed than the rest of her friends.

  She snorted. “I bet that was fun to watch them panic. I told her she should just wait until he got home to tell him. They all freak out when they can’t be there immediately.”