Letting out a deep breath, Michael shoved his phone back into his pocket and got out of his car. The August night was hot and muggy, but it would be turning cool soon enough. He and Patrick had agreed they wanted Marquis opened with a New Year’s Eve party. Everyone from Stronghold would be invited. People were already applying for memberships, despite the hefty fees. Just as Patrick had predicted.
Walking into the front door, Michael flipped on the lights and grinned. The main room was really coming together. Hardwood floors, walls painted a dark burgundy red with white trim. The booths along the wall had been put in today; they were padded leather with black seats and white backs, curved so anyone from two to six people could comfortably sit in them and still see everything happening in the rest of the restaurant. Eventually, there’d be curtains hanging from the ceiling, which could be closed, so they could also be more private if they desired.
It looked good.
The bar was a wooden antique and had been brought all the way up from Savannah, Georgia. They’d picked it out online and it looked perfect in the new space. The wood had been polished to gleaming, and it tucked neatly along the side of the restaurant across from the booths. Matching wooden stools would eventually be installed in front of it, but they were still going through a little bit of refurbishing. The bar and stools were in great shape, but Michael and Patrick wanted them to be perfect.
Walking through the large, empty space, Michael headed to the back hall, past the bathrooms, to the staircase and went upstairs. Not much had been done up here yet, but Michael was possibly the most excited about this room and its stage. He’d already started talking to some of the dominants with specialties about doing demonstrations on the stage.
Rigging, fire play, cupping, whip demos… he wanted it all showcased here. Erotic but without sex. Instructional, but fun. The Dungeon at Stronghold was great for the exhibitionists and voyeurs, and Patrick occasionally used the stage at Stronghold to give demos, but that wasn’t what Michael was going for.
No, he wanted people to walk into this room, with dim lights barely reaching the alcoves where they would sit. He wanted all the focus on the demonstrations, on the circular stage in the middle of the room. Like performance art. Something to focus on, unlike the chaos of the Dungeon. A more intimate and close-up experience than Patrick could provide at Stronghold’s stage.
It wouldn’t appeal to everyone, especially not all the time, but Michael thought it would be a nice addition to what Stronghold already offered. Marquis was going to be smaller by necessity; besides, he wanted this club to offer something unique. He didn’t want it to just be an overflow space for Stronghold members, and Patrick agreed.
Where Stronghold was sex, Marquis would be seduction.
******
“Hey, we’re gonna hang out here for a bit, wanna join us?” Angel asked as Ellie wiped a towel across her face, cleaning off some of the sweat.
The self-defense class had been a bit more of a work-out than she’d been anticipating. She’d spent as much time chasing Angel around and trying to get the pregnant woman tostopbeing so physically involved in the class as she did demonstrating the moves Angel asked her to.
Ellie narrowed her eyes at her friend. “I’m starting to wonder if you asked me to come help with this class under false pretenses.”
“Would I do that?” Angel quipped, making her voice nasal as she batted wide eyes and gave Ellie such an innocent smile there could be no doubt of her guilt. “Jessica and Kate are coming too. And obviously Leigh and Lexie since they’re already here.”
“You could have just asked me to come out tonight,” Ellie said, trying to sound stern although a laugh kept trying to bubble up. She put down the towel and went to grab the last of the equipment which needed to be stacked in Stronghold’s storage closet.
“Yeah, but I really did need the help, so it worked out.”
Giving her a look, Ellie shoved the arm pads into the closet. Angel might be pregnant, but she still seemed to have twice the amount of energy Ellie did. She’d sat down a few times during the class - mostly when Ellie or Leigh insisted.
Turning around, Angel yelled across the room to Leigh, who was just coming out of the ladies’ locker room. “Ellie’s hanging out with us!”
“I never actually said that,” Ellie complained as she closed the closet doors.
“You didn’t say no either, so that’s a yes in my book.”
“You realize you sound kind of super rapey, right?” Leigh asked, laughing, as she came over to join them.
“Hang-out-rape?” Angel asked, musing. “That seems okay.”
Leigh threw her hands up in the air and even Ellie dissolved into giggles with them.
Five minutes later Kate and Jessica had arrived and Lexie had come out of Patrick’s office and they were all hanging out in the Lounge area after getting some drinks. Ellie and Leigh chose simple rum and cokes to imbibe, Kate made herself some kind of blue mixed drink, Jessica just grabbed a beer, and Lexie poured herself a glass of Baileys on ice. Patrick had taken one look at what was going on and turned straight back around, retreating quickly into his office.
“He still has more work he can do,” Lexie said. “We’ve probably got about an hour before he decides I’ve had enough fun and drags me home.”
“Where you’ll have a totally different kind of fun,” Angel said, lifting her glass of water to Lexie. She was sprawled out on her chair entirely inelegantly, slouched down with her legs apart and her baby bump sticking straight up, her head resting on the back of the low armchair.
Leigh, who was sitting on the floor with her back against Angel’s chair, in between her legs, grinned. “Naughty fun.”
“Yes, that would be what I was implying.” Angel nudged Leigh’s shoulder with her leg. Across from them, Jessica and Kate stifled laughs. Jessica was in the chair directly across from Angel, and Kate was directly across from Ellie, so it wasn’t like trying to hide their laughter really worked. Lexie, who was sitting on the floor between them with her back against their recliners, didn’t bother to hide her giggles.
“You two are like an old married couple sometimes,” Jessica teased.
It was kind of weird sitting around in the Lounge area with a bunch of subs who were all dressed in regular clothes. Ellie was still in her workout capris and a tank top, like Angel and Leigh, while Jessica and Kate were both wearing jean shorts and casual shirts. Jessica’s hair was pulled back in a ponytail and Kate had hers wrapped in a neat bun on the back of her head; whereas during usual club time, they both often had their hair down. Only Lexie was dressed as she often was in the club (at least when her brother was present); wearing nothing but one of Patrick’s large shirts, which covered her completely. She’d probably been totally naked while she was in his office.
