“So do you think he’s a Dom?” Ellie asked, probably because Patrick had mentioned Luke wanting membership.
“That’s my assumption.”
Granted, there were always people who were dominant publicly and submissive privately – Angel being a clear example of that personality type – so maybe he shouldn’t be making the assumption, but he was used to the Stronghold Doms who were strong personalities all around. Since Luke was going to be a newbie and had never explored kink before, maybe they could introduce him to Sharon. Michael considered her on the very light end of the kink spectrum, and if Luke hadn’t even experimented before, he might fall there as well.Although, that was assuming she and Brian didn’t last – hecouldn’t see them together long term. She hadn’t even been bringing him to hang out with thegroup, which was a pretty clear indication of how casual their relationship was.
“What do you mean she advertised for a new roommate on Craig’s List?!” Jake’s outraged voice cut through whatever Ellie was going to say, distracting both of them – especially since they’d obviously missed a shift in conversation among the others.
Lexie gave her brother a look, obviously not understanding why he was so upset. “Well, she needs a new roommate since Kate and Andrew are finally moving in together.”
They had been taking their time about it, splitting their nights between Kate’s apartment with Sharon and Andrew’s apartment in his dad’s basement. Andrew said they were looking to live in the samegeneral area as his dad so he could still be there to help out with all the things his dad couldn’t do.
“First of all, she doesn’tneeda new roommate,” Jake growled, looking pissed. Patrick was staring at him with a kind of fascinationwhichsent Michael’s thoughts racing as well. “Second of all, if she’s going to be looking for a new roommate, she shouldn’t be doing so on Craig’s List!”
“That’s how she found Kate,” Lexie pointed out. The smug expression on her face said everything about her intentions, and Michael wouldn’t be surprised to know she’d steered the conversation this way intentionally. Apparently, she’d been looking for a reaction from her brother… and he’d provided.
Sharon and Jake had been grating against each other for a while and even though they were currently dating other people, it looked like “annoyed” wasn’t the only emotion Jake felt about the diminutive subbie.
“It’s not safe!”
Lexie waved her hand. “She hasn’t had a problem before, and it’s not like we won’t be there to look after her.”
“She doesn’t even need a roommate!”
“Sure she does, otherwise she gets lonely.”
“That’s not aneed, that’s just being spoiled.”
“Well this is going to be interesting,” Ellie murmured, watching the retorts tennis ball back and forth between the siblings, and echoing the thoughts of everyone else at the table. Michael couldn’t help but wonder if Jake was aware of exactly how much he was revealing by this little scene.Probably not, or he wouldn’t be so vehement with his opinion.
Just another eye-opening night at Stronghold.
Chapter 14
Getting ready to go to Stronghold with a group of girls was an entirely new experience and a heck of a lot of fun.Being at Stronghold last night had been a lot of fun too, but she hadn’t realized how much more fun it could be whenAngel had invited her over to get ready with her, Leigh, and Lexie, using the largest of the house’s bathrooms to do their makeup and hair. Adam had retreated downstairs where Ellie could hear the faint strains of guitar music as he played, occupying himself while they did their thing. Apparently Patrick and Jared were already at Stronghold working, so they’d decided to have somepre-club girl-time and wanted to include her.
Ellie really liked being included.
Especially since they’d started hanging out with her even before she’d agreed to scene with Michael. She didn’t feel like she was just being pulled into their friendship because of him, but it was nice he was there when she hung out with them as a group. It gave her an excuse to spend more time with him, without feeling any pressure to move things faster than she was comfortable with relationship-wise - although her comfort level could change from minute to minute or even second to second.
She could feel perfectly easy in their texting conversation, lookforward to spending more time with him, and then suddenly start feeling panicky over how comfortable she was feeling. Worry would creep through her relaxed calm, anxiety sliding between her emotions like an insidious vine, taking over the garden of her mind.
Sometimes she could ignore it, sometimes she couldn’t.
“Maybe I should borrow some of your stuff,” Leigh said, coming into the bathroom holding up an outfit whichlooked entirely made out of leather straps in front of her. She looked into the mirror as if trying to see how it would actually cover her. Compared to it, the short lavender miniskirt and white bustier with silver embroidery she was wearing looked almost demure. “Just forfunsies.”
Angel gave her an incredulous look. “Don’t you already have a spanking coming tomorrow if you don’t make it to the gym? Do you want to add to that?”
“I’m not Lexie, there’s no rules saying I can’t wear what I want to the club,” Leigh argued, although she was now tilting her head at the mirror as if reconsidering. Unlike Angel, who often went looking for a spanking – although her sexy outfits wouldn’t necessarily be the reason for one – Leigh tended to be much more conservative in her fashion, even at the club. She and Jared didn’t exactly have a Daddy Dom – baby girl relationship, but there was definitely a little bit of that going on. While she never dressed like a baby girl,her outfits were a lot more conservative than most of the other club goers. The only subs more covered up were the actual baby girls.
“Hey, I wear what I want,” Lexie said indignantly. She was currently dressed in bluehotpantswith a matching blue bra and a black mesh shirt. Her pale skin glowed against alltheblue and black, which matched her hair and eyes exactly. Patrick kind of had a thing for anythingwhich matched the color of her eyes.
“And the second you walk into the club, Patrick takes all or most of it off you anyway,” Leigh retorted.
“She has a point,” said Angel, leaning forward to put on her eyeliner. Her hand had a steadiness Ellie envied as she deftly swiped the liquid over her eyelid. Ellie never wore liquid liner because she always ended up looking like someone had punched her in the face.
“Why do you want to wear it?” Ellie asked. After all, it was a little unusual for Leigh to want to take off more clothes. While a few of the women in their group of friends were exhibitionists, Leigh, Maria, and Hilary were definitely not. If they played at the club, they played behind closed doors, and while they always looked fantastic, they usually wore less revealing clothing than a lot of the other club members. As Rick often said; they were there to be with their friends more than they were to play. It would be interesting to see what happened when Marquis opened.
Leigh shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess sometimes I just feel a little boring next to you guys.”
