Page 18 of Stripping the Sub
Because she was envious. Because she’d known her time with Andrew was coming to an end. He was the Dom she trusted the most, but she’d hated herself for needing to ask him for a scene when he and Kate were back together. Not all scenes had a sexual component to them, but since she and Andrew had had sex in the past and his second chance with Kate was pretty new, she’d still felt weird about it. Especially since he wasn’t scening with anyone else. And while she hadn’t begrudged his attention to Kate, and he certainly hadn’t held back during the scene, she’d known his full attention wasn’t on her.
And she wanted someone’s full attention on her.
Admitting that to herself had been hard. Admitting to herself that the only person whose face she pictured, when she fantasized about having a Dom’s full attention, was Michael’s was even harder.
But if she wanted to try for a relationship, where better to start than someone she already instinctively trusted? Even if it didn’t work out, she knew it wouldn’t be because he treated her horribly. Maybe she really was too damaged to salvage, which she suspected sometimes, but if anyone could be patient enough, understanding enough, it would be the man who had been pursuing her for months. She’d seen him doing other scenes at the club and knew his patience bled into his style of domination as well.
He’d probably need every last bit of it to put up with her.
Watson’s paw bumped her chin again and Ellie smiled. Somehow he always knew when she was spiraling and distracted her. She’d told her therapist Dr. Amy that he was like a little therapy cat, always interrupting her thoughts when they became too anxious or self-loathing.
“Such a good kitty,” she said, baby-talking to him as she rubbed his belly. Watson stretched, giving her more access, and purred like a little motor. “You think I should try to have a relationship, don’t you?”
Actually, probably not. Watson was not a big fan of men. When her brother, Austin, had come for a visit and spent the week on her pull-out couch, Watson had hidden the entire week. Her brother claimed he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of Watson the entire time he was there.
Still, unless Ellie wanted to spend the rest of her life alone…
Other people were getting together. No one had ever thought Adam would find a sub he could tolerate in a long-term relationship, and now he was going to be a daddy soon and begging the sub in question to just hurry up and marry him already. Everyone had bet Patrick would never actually make a move on Lexie either, but now they were together and glowingly happy. Even the most unlikely-to-be-in-a-relationship, commitment-phobic Andrew, was in love and completely exclusive with his second-chance love.
It was enough to make even an ultra-cynical pessimist like Ellie start to feel hopeful. Especially when she managed to get through an entire first scene with a man without even a tiny moment of panic, and ending it feeling like she wanted more from him… something she didn’t think she’d ever allowed herself to feel before.
******
“So what do you think?” Claudia, one of the subs who came to Stronghold regularly with her husband and Master, asked proudly, waving her hand around to indicate the full space.
Apparently, when Patrick decided something, hedecidedsomething. Michael probably shouldn’t be too surprised; after all, he was pretty decisive himself, but he still hadn’t expected Patrick to move quite as quickly as he had. They’d hashed out an agreement for going into business together on Monday, signed it on Tuesday, and now here they were looking at properties on Wednesday. It just so happened Claudia was a real estate agent specializing in business properties, and Patrick had contacted her on Monday as soon as they’d agreed to open the second club.
They were now in the third space Claudia had lined up for them. Originally, it had been the fourth on her list, she’d told them, but after getting their impressions from the first two, she’d bumped it up.
She was good too… because Michael thought it was pretty fucking perfect.
Completely different from the warehouse district where Stronghold was located, this building was right in the center of downtown. The entire four-story building was now available, although it needed a bit of fixing up. The main floor used to be a speakeasy restaurant, while the upper floors had held offices. The main restaurant area wasn’t very large because the main floor was divided between the front restaurant and the “speak easy.”
“What do you think?” Patrick asked, turning to Michael after a careful look around. They were back in the main dining area after having explored the upstairs.
Michael raised his eyebrows at the other man.
“Sure you don’t want to tell me what you think first?” he joked. Patrick just grinned back at him, arms crossed over his chest and totally at ease. He knew he was a bossy bastard. Fortunately, Michael was pretty easy-going in most ways.
“I think it’s fucking perfect,” Patrick said. “But since you’re the one who’ll be running it, I’ll let you have a say.”
Claudia giggled as Michael barked a laugh. Watching the two doms, she jumped up to sit on one of the high barstools while she awaited the verdict. Those stools would have to go. They were cheap looking plastic trying to be something it wasn’t. Whoever had had this place before had tried to scrimp and save on small things, but people didn’t want to spend money in a cheap looking place. The speakeasy would have been a cool idea if it had been done right, and it was also what made both the location and the space so ideal.
Looking around at the front space, Michael found it easy to picture exactly how he wanted things set up. It really was perfect. The speakeasy area was accessed through the back hall. There was another bar back there with little alcoves already set up along the walls, and a small raised platform in the center of the room, which would be perfect for demos. The upstairs floors could be turned into private rooms, like the upstairs rooms at Stronghold. Theme rooms. He’d have to think of some new themes though, he didn’t want to do repeats.A spa/massage room perhaps? A small medievalDungeon room… maybe a pet room or and an age play room for the fetish players… Excitement curled inside of him as the place came together in his head.
It would be easy to keep regular restaurant patrons out of the “private dining” areas, and the main restaurant and bar would make a good front for the members who didn’t want their activities known. Especially since the entrance was tucked back from the main street, so they wouldn’t get a lot of foot traffic anyway.
They also didn’t plan to advertise. From what Patrick said, they were going to have more than enough business just through Stronghold. The sister clubs would each offer something different. Stronghold would be the starker, darker side of BDSM. It had the Dungeon, after all. This club would be more centered on performance in its main room, with private alcoves for voyeurs to play in while they enjoyed the main show, as well as private rooms upstairs. Everything about it would be more discreet and private, the focus on already established couples and play partners, since it wouldn’t have the Lounge area for single subs like Stronghold, although Michael would definitely have club submissives and dominants available for sessions.
Looking back at Patrick, Michael smiled. “It’ll do.”
“Yay!” Claudia said, clapping her hands excitedly. “I knew you’d like it. Okay, let’s go talk paperwork.”
Suppressing a groan - because this was definitely the boring part - Michael followed Claudia and Patrick back to the car. There was a garage right next door, which would be convenient.
But, as he glanced back over his shoulder down the side street where the entrance was, he felt a surge of excitement. This was going to be a lot of work, but he had a feeling it was also going to be a lot of fun. Plus, he could still scratch his performing itch if everything went as planned. He wondered if Ellie would be down for doing some demos with him.
******
