Page 123 of Danger and Dominance
As the crowd thinned out, she could see glimpses of the Black Fox Doms and her friends over by the bar.They were hanging back, probably because they knew David and Cassidy would make it over to them eventually—which they did.There was a new addition to the group this evening, and he’d brought his girlfriend, just like David had warned her.
Cassidy had met Zeus very briefly.He was incredibly intimidating, though it didn’t seem like he was trying to be; he just had that aura.Tall, broad-shouldered, with a completely smooth head, eyes that were so dark brown they were nearly black, slightly tanned skin from the summer sun, and a full beard, he looked even more intimidating than usual in his leather pants and vest with an earring hanging from his left ear.
He had his arm around a blonde woman, whose back was currently to Cassidy so she couldn’t see her face, and the woman was talking animatedly to Claudia, Naomi, and Yasmine.That was good.Maybe if she could make a connection to the other women, everyone would be nicer to Zeus.
She knew David was wary of the other man, but if he was a spy sent by Marshall, he was a terrible choice.It was way too obvious.But maybe he could be turned into one if everyone was mean to him and never accepted him.Cassidy didn’t know him well enough to automatically trust him, but she wasn’t going to be outwardly skeptical, either.
As she and David approached, everyone perked up, happy to see them coming.Yasmine looked as elegantly gorgeous as always in a navy-blue corset with black lace edging, her hair pulled back into a half-up, half-down style, and her makeup stunningly flawless.Beside her, Naomi was dressed in a cute pink teddy that Cassidy would be willing to bet included a ruffled skirt, hidden under the table at the moment.She’d changed her hairstyle again, and it was now in a puffy braid that wound around her head, impossible to tell where it started and where it ended, with the ends neatly tucked in.
Both of them were obviously in good moods.
Claudia was clearly feeling more suspicious, sitting back in her chair rather than forward, her arms crossed under her breasts.Her black vinyl corset came to two high points above her breasts, dipping into a deep V between them to show off her cleavage.Her dark hair was pulled back in a high bun, and black beads dripped down from her ears.There was something about the ensemble that made Cassidy think of Catwoman.
Zeus’ girlfriend was wearing a slinky red dress rather than a corset, something that she would have been able to wear on a date to any restaurant before coming to the club.Her blonde hair waved around her shoulders, curling over her upper back.The red skirt of her dress fluttered around her thighs as both of them turned to see who everyone was looking at.
Cassidy and the blonde’s mouths dropped open at the same time.
“Cassidy?”the other woman squealed in apparent delight.
“Noelle?”Cassidy was utterly bewildered, though she didn’t have time to do much before Noelle threw herself at Cassidy and hugged her tightly.
“Oh, my goodness, it’s so good to see you!I’m so glad you’re okay.I didn’t realize you were the one everyone was talking about tonight!”Noelle kept hugging her, and Cassidy didn’t really feel like she had much of a choice but to hug her back as her mind raced.
She hadn’t thought about Noelle since she moved up here.She hadn’t gotten to know Noelle at Stronghold, though they’d been introduced.There’d always been some gossip around the other woman, but she’d had a group of friends at the club.One of who she’d been the bridesmaid for before eloping with the groom.
Shouldn’t she be married?
Also, Cassidy had thought she’d gotten kicked out of the club for some reason.Maybe she’d been mistaken, though.Maybe Noelle had decided to leave because of all the drama after she’d eloped with Jeremy.
There had been a lot going on in Cassidy’s life when that was all happening, and she’d only ever gotten peripheral gossip, although she knew that Amy—the bride—had ended up moving in with Zach and Kincaid.She and Zach were good friends.
“Um, hi,” she managed to say finally.“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Oh, my gosh, I know.I’ve had the most awful time of it,” Noelle said, releasing Cassidy and shaking her head.“I got married, which was the worst mistake of my life, and we’ve already gotten the marriage annulled, but I needed a fresh start, and I asked my job if they could move me to a different office, and then I found out there’s a club here and, well… here I am.”She opened her arms wide, smiling at Cassidy, but it wasn’t entirely genuine.There was something in her eyes.
Fear, maybe?Uncertainty?
Cassidy didn’t know the full story of what had gone down at Stronghold, and she’d definitely never heard Noelle’s side of it.Granted, marrying her friend’s fiancé was a pretty shitty thing to do, but it was even shittier of the fiancé.And it sounded like things hadn’t worked out after all, so maybe Noelle had learned her lesson.
Plus, if she was Zeus’ girlfriend and Cassidy wanted David to be nicer to Zeus…
She smiled back at her.
“It’s good to see you again,” she said, even though that was an exaggeration.It wasn’t like she and Noelle had ever interacted, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about the other woman; on the other hand, she didn’t have anything to base her opinion on other than hearsay, which didn’t seem fair.The brief statement seemed to be all Noelle had hoped for because that hint of unease disappeared entirely, and Noelle beamed at her.
“I had no idea you would be here,” Noelle said.“When did you move up here?”
“Oh, um, a few weeks ago… it feels like a lot longer.”Alotlonger.But she wasn’t going to get into all of that right now if Noelle didn’t know anything about it.
Cassidy’s presence and greeting seemed to make both Yasmine and Naomi feel a little more comfortable with the woman, and even Claudia started to thaw.She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but Noelle seemed perfectly nice.Maybe she had learned her lesson.
Any man who was willing to cheat on his fiancé, then marry another woman on their wedding day must be a terrible person.Cassidy herself was proof of how a woman could get involved with an awful man without realizing it.It seemed Noelle had gotten herself out of it, too, though.Now, she was with Zeus, and she was exerting herself to ingratiate herself with everyone and to make things easier for him, as though she could sense he wasn’t entirely welcome, and she wanted to change that for him.
So, they had a goal in common, too.
As things went, it was a pretty enjoyable evening, though the plug in her bottom meant it wasn’t an entirely comfortable one.
David
