“Everything okay?” Patrick asked as soon as Michael shut the door behind him. “Are you ending the contract already?”
The question was so unexpected, Michael barked out a laugh. “No. Thankfully. I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had for Marquis.”
An idea which had been slowly forming throughout the day ever since Ellie had woken up and been upset she was in his bed. Plus, it was an idea which would further serve to set Marquis apart from Stronghold. It wouldn’t be for everyone, but that was okay… the people who took advantage of it would enjoy.
Patrick nodded at the chair across the desk from him. “By all means.”
Like Michael, Patrick had on his leathers, but he was also wearing a black t-shirt that clung to his muscles. Whenever Lexie’s brother Jake came to the club, to hang out with his friends, Patrick’s shirt would go on Lexie and he’d stay bare-chested. So far it was a system which seemed to work pretty well. The other guys in the group all thought of Lexie as a little sister, but they’d become used to seeing her naked around the club.Obviously, as Lexie’s real sibling, she and Jake both preferred her clothed when he was there.
“What would you think of making Marquis twenty four hours on weekends?” Michael asked. Patrick’s eyebrows rose as he leaned back in his chair, running his free hand over the five o’clock shadow on his chin, while Lexie blinked, looking interested in the idea. “We could set up the private rooms so they came as a pair; a playroom connected to a bedroom by an adjoining door. It would take a little more work, but the way the offices were originally set up, I think we could probably get the plumbing set out pretty easily to have a bathroom connected to each room as well. With all the interest in Marquis, the cost of the memberships would cover the extra staff hours, especially if some of the staff wanted to trade time working for time in the private rooms.
“We’ll have to go over numbers, but at first glance I like it,” Patrick said, nodding his head. His hand came down to rest on his desk, fingers tapping as he thought it through. “It definitely gives Marquis more of the high-end feel that we’re going for, to have an overnight option. We include overnights for the full-members of Marquis and have non-full members pay for special occasions…”
“Not having to go home right after a scene would be a big draw,” Lexie chimed in. “You might need to limit the amount of nights a member can stay per month. Or some kind of system where they can request a second night and as long as there’s a room open, it’s theirs.”
“Good point,” Michael said. “There will definitely be some bugs to work out, but I think it would be worthwhile.”
Patrick gave Lexie’s hair a little tug. “Go grab the floor design from the file cabinet, please, Pixie. Let’s look it over and see what we can come up with.”
Feeling incredibly pleased, Michael ran his fingers through his own hair, pushing it away from his face before scooting his chair closer to Patrick’s desk. Sure, he’d added more work to his plate, but he really did think it would pay off. It was the kind of thing which would appeal to a lot of the club members for all sorts of reasons - privacy, convenience, special occasions.
Plus, hopefully by the time Marquis opened, his and Ellie’s relationship would have moved forward a little more, but if not… well, being able to sleep over at the club might make her feel better than going back to either of their places together. It was kind of like a compromise.
Chapter 13
The week seemed to crawl by, slower than usual.
Despite what she’d said to Michael, Ellie did end up touching herself, multiple times.
While she was in the shower and feeling hot and frustrated.
While she was in bed, strugglingto fall asleep as memories from their last scene ran through her head.
When she woke up in the middle of the night, her pussy throbbing from the dream she’d just had…
She’d had sex with Doms before. She’d had amazing scenes with Doms before. But she’d never had a lingering reaction like this before. Then again, she’d also never been in a club contract or had a Dom tell her she couldn’t orgasm until she saw him again. In the past, any control a Dom had over her ended the moment the scene did. She’d expected things to change a little, having a club contract, but she hadn’t realized how much it would affect her outside of the club.
It didn’t help that Michael didn’t exactly stay away during the week either. They weren’t talking on the phone, but they still exchanged texts nearly every day. Mostly pictures of Marquis and Watson, but also little conversations about their day or things that were happening. He was the one who told her Andrew and Kate were now looking at houses, which she ended up knowing before Lexie, who seemed both a little put out and highly interested that she was not Ellie’s main conduit for gossip anymore. She’d probably be passing on the word to everyone else about how Ellie and Michael were talking a lot outside of the club.
On Thursday, Angel texted her.
Hey are you free next Saturday? During the day?
Ellie automatically glanced at her calendar even though she knew it would be blank. Before the Stronghold girls had started pushing her into going out with them, her main social activity had been going to Stronghold and interacting with people there. Her weekend daytime activities usually involved cleaning house, calling her parents and brother at some point, and maybe going to a Zumba class at the nearby studio.
Yes, what’s up?
Oh good! We’re taking a trip to the zoo. Sharon’s been dying to go. Want to carpool to the metro?
She’d texted back ‘sure’ before she’d even realized Angel hadn’t actually asked if Ellie wanted to go to the zoo. It made her shake her head, but she couldn’t help the smile either. Especially because within the next five minutes her phone was buzzing with messages from a group text she’d just been added to.
Jessica:I haven’t been to the zoo in forever!
Maria:The weather’s supposed to be sunny and in the high sixties, low seventies, but I’ll keep my eye on it as it gets closer.
Sharon:ZOO!
Lexie:Yay! Zoo! I want to go to the bird house!
