Page 5 of Stripping the Sub
“Yeah. I’m just having a hard time picturing Brian and Sharon together. He’s… definitely not the Dom I would have chosen for her.” Olivia had taught the new Doms class, so she was well acquainted with the Doms and their preferences.
The others teased her about being a mother hen, and Michael could see why. “Maybe they’re stepping outside of their comfort zones.”
“Mm,” Olivia replied, noncommittally, making Michael laugh. She tilted her head towards him, laughter in her silvery eyes. “I’m just saying. They’re not going to last.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” he said agreeably. Truth be told, his only interest was because he wanted to see if things would ever shake down between Jake and Sharon.
Damn.
He was getting as nosy as all the other gossip-hounds in this group.
******
“So I hear you’re scening with Ellie tomorrow.” Chris’ dark eyes gleamed with amusement as Michael let out a resigned huff of air. They’d gone to a bar not too far from Kate’s school which wasn’t too loud but was also kind of full. They’d ended up scattered around separate tables by necessity.
It was a big group of friends.
A big, nosy group of friends.
“I literally asked her to scene with me about half an hour ago, and I’m pretty sure everyone in this group already knows,” Michael said dryly before taking a long sip of his beer.
“That’s just how we roll,” Patrick said. Before Justin had come up, Patrick, Jake, and Lexie had all been chatting with Michael, thankfully not about Ellie. He wasn’t entirely pleased with the conversation turn.
“It’s not my fault,” Chris protested, although he was still grinning. “Jessica wanted to know.”
“And yet you don’t see Justin over here,” Lexie pointed out, teasing.
Justin, Chris, and Jessica were in a poly relationship centered around Jessica since both Justin and Chris were straight and dominant. They also looked alike, having the same height, broad-shoulders, and dark hair and eyes, but in personality they were fairly different. Justin tended to be much more serious whereas Chris was more playful; outside of the bedroom, Justin tended to lead - and from what Michael had witnessed of their public scenes, he tended to lead in the bedroom as well, although Chris had no problem dominating Jessica on his own. Justin was just as big a gossip as the others in the group though, even if he wasn’t nearly as blatant about it as Chris.
“Yeah well, I’m nosy,” Chris said cheerfully.
At least he admitted it.
A smile on his face, Michael turned his head towards Jake, and was immediately distracted by the way Jake was looking at Patrick. Turning his head to face the other man, he was a bit surprised to see Patrick staring off into space again with his forehead wrinkled so much it was pulling at the scar next to his eye. Group gossip said Jake had accidentally given him that scar when they were teenagers.
“What’s up man?” Jake asked, reaching across to slap the table in front of Patrick and making the big man jump. As Patrick scowled across the table at his best friend, Lexie placed her hand on Patrick’s chest and looked up at him in concern.
“Are you thinking about the club again?” she asked, her tone worried, which of course made everyone else standing at the table worried. Chris straightened, the grin gone from his face, and Michael felt a trickle of alarm go up his spine.
Patrick owned Stronghold, which was open five days a week, and operated mostly as a kink-club. On Tuesdays, it was open for swingers; on Wednesdays, they’d added classes (women’s self-defense, along with BDSM 101 for new subs and Doms); and Thursday through Saturday nights, it was a full on BDSM club. It was where they all spent most of their time when they went out. Michael hadn’t thought it would be in trouble; it was always packed, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, and there was always a wait to use the equipment and the private rooms.
“What’s wrong with the club?” Chris asked, sounding as alarmed as Michael felt.
“It’s too successful.” The tone Patrick used was the complete opposite of his words. Usually people didn’t talk about being successful like it was some kind of horrible outcome.
“What do you mean?” Michael asked, while Jake and Chris stared blankly at Patrick.
“We’ve had to start turning away newbie applications,” Lexie explained. “We’re running at full capacity, but we can’t expand without either getting rid of the gardens or buying land on either side, but those warehouses aren’t interested in selling.”
Patrick’s arm tightened around Lexie, his dark fingers stroking her pale cheek, although the gesture looked more like it was to comfort him than her. “I’ve also been getting some pressure to make the club more select. We have some members who want more privacy and security because of their positions in the real world. I’ve thought about opening a second location, but I’m not sure I want the hassle. Honestly, I never thought the club would be this successful. I don’t really like the idea of opening another club all on my own.”
“You have me,” Lexie pointed out, scrunching up her nose at him. They all knew she was just doing it to make him smile, and it worked. While Lexie did help immensely with running the club, they all knew there was no way Patrick would be okay with letting her run a club in a separate location from him. Out of the whole group, their relationship was the closest to being a 24/7 Master/slave dynamic. It worked for them, but it also made Patrick extremely overprotective and intent on having her nearby.
“Yes I do, Pixie,” Patrick said, a wide grin splitting his face as he looked down at her, the stress dropping away for just a moment.
Huh. The possibilities spun around Michael’s head. A second Stronghold location? A more private location. Probably something ritzy since the people looking for more privacy and security would also have more money. Something more dramatic than the comfortably elegant main floor of Stronghold. Not just dramatic in looks either; Michael felt the stage at Stronghold was severely underused.
“What if you had a partner?” Michael asked, the question popping out of his mouth before he had a chance to really think it through. He wasn’t often an impulsive person, but… it had just come out.
