Page 74 of Pressure

She was staring out the window.

“I want to become a real member,” she murmured.

“You don’t know how happy that makes me, Riss.”

She turned to him with a smile. “Can I be your trainee in the house sub program?”

He lifted her hand to his lips again. “You can just be my sub. You don’t have to go through the training program.”

She pulled her hand from his. “I know. But I can’t really afford the dues. And before you offer to pay them for me, just hear me out,” she said when he opened his mouth to do just that.

He chuckled and nodded for her to continue.

“I think doing the program would give us good boundaries at first. Think of it as easing back into the dynamic we had. Our kink was fucking intense and I think that’s part of why we crashed and burned so hard when things went south. Not that we can’t be intense, but we need better check-in protocols. I was reading through some of the material on the program when I was searching for your hacker. I think it’s useful.”

He rested his hand on the back of her neck and squeezed. “You’re right. I can agree to that.”

When they arrived at the club, Lance felt a knot form in his stomach. Jodie leaned on the railing at the top of the stairs outside Solitaire and she didn’t look happy.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Sorry, love. I hope this doesn’t turn ugly but if it does just know that you’re mine and I’m handling it.”

She gave a tense nod and Lance stepped out of the car.

He didn’t hold Marissa’s hand as they walked up the stairs.

“You’re just giving me away?” Jodie said, stepping toward him as he reached the top step.

Lance cleared his throat. “Wait for me inside, please Marissa.”

She didn’t respond, just opened the door, and slipped inside.

“I told you last night that I would transfer your training to someone else, Jodie. It’s in the contract that either of us can make that request.”

She folded her arms and glared at him. “I signed up to be your sub. Not Matthew’s.”

“First, it’s Master Matthew and second, you signed up to be a house submissive. I was just training you. But I think you know as well as I do that we weren’t connecting. Matthew will be a good fit for you.”

She huffed. “This isn’t fair. Some random bitch who wasn’t even a member shows up out of the blue and gets your attention like that? Are you fucking her?”

Whoa. Not the path he expected this to take. But hearing her call Marissa a bitch made him want to haul her over his lap and paddle the hell out of her.

Instead, he just glared at her. “That’s enough, Jodie. If you can’t accept the decisions of the house Doms, you’ll be asked to leave the program. It’s that simple. And you do not speak about other house subs that way. Marissa is not a bitch and you will not refer to her as such. Am I clear?”

Jodie just continued to glare at him.

“You will go inside and help Mitch set up the bar. After that, you will go to the third parlor room and wait for Master Hunter. He’ll be watching over you until Master Matthew arrives.”

He took her by the arm and led her inside. Thankfully, Marissa was not in the lobby to see the daggers Jodie was shooting from her eyes.

Their application and vetting process was generally good at keeping out the bad apples, but now it seemed like perhaps they had gotten it wrong with Jodie. She was a brat and needed a unique kind of dominant in her life. Not that Marissa couldn’t be a brat, it was just a different kind.

After Lance delivered the sub to Mitch, he went in search of Marissa. He found her in the conference room with her headphones on. He wanted to scold her for working since they were supposed to be done for the day, but he knew Jodie ruffled her feathers, and she was turning to something that calmed her.

“Hey,” he said, gently lifting the headphones away from one ear.

She turned and stared up at him. “Hi. So that was awkward. Again.”

He grimaced. “Sorry, love. I promise I have no feelings for her.”

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