Page 32 of Stripping the Sub
“Speaking of getting married, how are the wedding plans going?” Kate asked, turning her attention to Jessica.
Even though Jessica’s upcoming ceremony wasn’t going to actually be a legal wedding, since she’d be “marrying” two men, they all called it that anyway. After all, it wasn’t Jessica, Chris, and Justin’s fault the government hadn’t caught up on poly relationships. Fortunately, they were able to do some legal maneuveringswith trusts and wills which would give them pretty much all the rights of spouses… just without the tax breaks every April.
“Good! We decided on a spring wedding. We’ve started searching locations, although there’ll definitely be some kind of exclusive kinky after party, either here or at Marquis since it’ll be open by then,” Jessica said with a wicked smile.
“Like a collaring ceremony?” Ellie asked. Stronghold had hosted more than a few of those since it had opened.
“Yup, although we haven’t worked out the details. Suffice to say, it won’t be family friendly. Definitely stuff our parents would rather not hear about,” Jessica said. She sighed. “My parents have gotten a lot better about me being with both Justin and Chris, but I’d rather not push it and make us all uncomfortable again.”
“What about Justin and Chris’ families?” Angel asked.
“Justin’s mom is the best,” Jessica said, her face lighting up for just a moment before darkening again. “Chris’ family… he and his brother email each other sometimes, but that’s about it. They haven’t actually talked since we all got together. We’re going to send them an invite but…” She bit her lip, her eyes darting around even though they knew they were completely alone in the club.
“You kind of hope they don’t come if they’re going to be awful,” Leigh said, her voice gentle. “Totally understandable.”
“I still feel like a jerk for thinking it,” Jessica muttered, looking guilty.
“Don’t,” Angel said. “I’m still freaking out about Adam’s parents both being here when the baby is born. They haven’t seen each other in over a decade, they might be perfectly fine, but I kind of wish they weren’t coming just because it’s an additional stress. It’s human nature to not want more stress piled on top of an already stressful situation. It’s also human nature not to want anyone raining on our parade.”
Leigh twisted around slightly so she could look at Angel. “That’s what I’m here for. If anyone starts upsetting you, I’m kicking them out of the room. I don’t care if they’re Adam’s parents.”
“And if she’s not there, one of us will do it,” Lexie said, nodding decisively. “You and Adam won’t have to deal with that crap at all.”
Despite her small size, no one doubted for a moment Lexie would be just as effective as Patrick at bodily dragging someone from the room if someone was upsetting her friends. For that matter, Ellie didn’t doubt even mild-mannered Leigh would. While Leigh tended to be nearly as quiet as Ellie, if someone was messing with one of her friends she changed to an angry bulldog in an instant.
“Or you could sic Olivia on them,” Ellie said. Although she would love to see Lexie or Leigh’s version of a smack down, but Olivia was really good at preventing the need for one.
“Ooo, yeeeees,” Kate said, her voice almost a hiss of satisfaction. “Feed them to the Domme.”
Everyone cracked up at the description, which was kind of super on point. There weren’t a lot of people whom Olivia couldn’t eat for breakfast - even here at Stronghold. She had the evilest of evil eyes.
“So Ellie… you’re awfully quiet over there,” Jessica said, as the laughter faded, an almost mischievous smile on her face. Everyone turned towards Ellie, making her want to squirm. “Feel free to tell us to mind our own business, but we’re all dying to know about you and Michael.”
“Shhh, don’t tell her she can ignore our questions,” Angel protested. “I want answers!”
“You’re so nosy,” Leigh shot back at her, pinching Angel’s leg. The two of them had a mini-tussle which everyone else ignored other than looks of amusement. They were still focused on looking at Ellie, rather than diverting their attention.
“Oh um… things are good?” Ellie answered, her voice lilting up as though she was asking a question. She knew that wasn’t enough information for them though. “Um, we’re going to sign a club contract.”
“Whoo-hoo!” Lexie pumped her fist in the air with excitement, which made everyone laugh. Kate clapped her hands together in delight while Angel leaned over even further – which helped her avoid Leigh’s fingers – to give Ellie an enthusiastic one-armed hug. Jessica grinned, looking thrilled, and she gave Ellie a thumbs up when she saw Ellie looking at her.
“What’s a club contract?” Leigh asked, looking confused as she finally stopped trying to pinch Angel.
“Something you’ll never have to worry about,” Kate quipped, giggling.
“It’s like an in-club relationship,” Lexie explained. “It sets out all the boundaries and limits of the relationship, including whether or not it’s exclusive, and there’s often a time limit.”
“But it’s only for when you’re actually at Stronghold?” Leigh still sounded a little confused and it made Ellie want to squirm.
Normally club contracts were between people who were only interested in seeing each other at the club, whereas she and Michael already saw each other outside of the club quite often. Which meant it was already going to be different for them. But it’s not like they were going ondatesoutside of the club or anything. And this was already a huge step for her.
“Unless the contract specifies activities outside of the club, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a club contract that does,” Lexie said.
“So what’s the time limit?” Angel asked curiously, looking at Ellie.
Ellie shrugged. “I don’t know yet, Michael’s sending me the contract to look over tomorrow.”
“Five bucks he doesn’t put in a time limit!” Angel said immediately, her head whipping around to look at the others.
