Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Ian got an uneasy feeling in his gut when he saw Angie and Kristen walk toward Devon, Kayla, and him.
There must’ve been the usual long line in the ladies’ room because they were gone an awful long time.
Although they were chatting with each other as they approached, there was a pensive air about them.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
As Angie stopped by his side, Kristen sidled up to Devon and put her arm around his waist. He watched both women glance at each other before Angie seemed to find something interesting to stare at on the floor, and his concern grew.
What his brother’s fiancée said next made his stomach drop, and he felt the blood drain from his face.
“We… um… had a run-in with Heather in the ladies’ room, and I’m sorry, Ian, but she sort of ran her mouth off and said some things she shouldn’t have about you and the club. ”
She flashed her eyes toward Angie, who was now blushing, and then back to him with an optimistic expression. “I think it’s okay, but you two need to talk about a few things.”
Shit! Ian dragged his hand down his face in anger and frustration.
Damn, Heather was a spiteful bitch. This was not the way he wanted this to happen.
He’d planned on talking his way into Angie’s place tonight for a nightcap.
After telling her being a Dominant was a major part of his life, he’d pray she was still interested in him and didn’t kick him to the curb.
Although his ears were buzzing, he heard Kristen report how Mistress Roxanne made a brief appearance and handled things.
Upon hearing that, Kayla responded with a pout. “Damn. I hate when she goes into her Wonder Woman persona, and I’m not there to see it. She knows how much it turns me on.”
Ian ignored the women’s giggles and took hold of Angie’s elbow, leading her toward an unoccupied corner of the great room behind a sculpture worth about seventy-five thousand dollars.
When he was certain they were out of earshot, he looked at her with a pang of regret.
“I’m sorry, Angel. It’s not how I wanted you to learn about me and my lifestyle.
I was waiting for the right opportunity to tell you. ”
“So, you were going to tell me?”
Okay, she wasn’t running for the hills yet.
Her face seemed filled with curiosity and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
It didn’t mean he was in the clear, but it gave him hope.
“Yes, of course. I’m… it’s a part of me I can’t ignore or change.
I’m not ashamed of who I am. I was going to tell you when we were alone later tonight, but now that it’s out, I’ll understand if you want me to take you home. ”
And he would. It would kill him, but if she wanted nothing to do with him after this, he’d walk away and try to scrub the memory of their kiss from his brain.
She seemed to think things over for a moment before responding, “If you want to leave now, it’s fine with me.
But I’m having a good time, so I’d prefer to stay longer and finish looking at the exhibit.
That is if you don’t mind. It’ll give me time to recover from my initial shock and think for a bit.
This way, when we talk later, I’ll be better prepared to ask you some questions, and boy, do I have questions.
” He chuckled at her wry grin. “I’ll admit, Ian, I’m curious, but this came from left field, and it’s something I’ve only read about before.
That doesn’t mean I’m willing to jump into things completely blindfolded…
er, so to speak… but I am willing to talk later if you want. ”
Ian’s heart soared, and his cock twitched in his pants. He still had a shot with her, and from what she said, it might not even be a long shot. He stroked his fingers along her jawline, pleased when a flash of desire appeared in her eyes. “I’d like that very much, Angel.”
“Just tell me one thing.”
He took a deep breath. “Anything.”
“Please tell me that nasty bitch, Heather, and you never…” She seemed unsure of what words she wanted to use, so she left the sentence hanging there, probably hoping he would fill in the blanks.
“Oh, hell no!” Ian barked. “Please give me some credit. She was a member of the club with her Master a while back but had a bad habit of harassing other submissives, and her membership was revoked as a result. She’s obviously still holding a grudge.
You’ll have to ask Kristen about the night she got the name Ninja-girl.
My future sister-in-law knows how to kick some bitchy ass. ”
Leading her toward their little group, Ian was thrilled to know he still had a chance with his beautiful angel.
Angie paced back and forth across her living room, trying to gather her thoughts, and Ian wasn’t making it any easier for her.
During the rest of the evening, he’d relaxed back into the person he’d been before Kristen told him what happened in the restroom.
Now, he was sitting on her couch, having shed his tuxedo jacket and tie.
One ankle was propped up against the opposite knee, and one arm was on the couch's armrest while the other was lying across the back.
Without interrupting her, he patiently observed her walk, pivot, walk, and pivot again.
She didn’t know what to say. She had so many thoughts running through her head it was a jumbled mess.
Before leaving the museum, Kayla, Roxy, and Kristen had all given her their cell numbers in case she had any questions Ian didn’t answer or was too embarrassed to ask him.
Angie wasn’t ashamed to admit she was one of those women who loved sex.
Most of her past boyfriends and a few temporary hook-ups, which she would qualify as being somewhere between one-night stands and actual relationships, had been enjoyable in bed.
Sex had rarely been the reason for breaking up with those men.
In fact, a few of them had taken control in the bedroom—not to the point of what the BDSM stories she read described, but enough that she was aroused even more than usual.
Her problem with those men had been outside the bedroom.
Some became boring to her after a while, and others had only been interested in the sex, and their dates revolved around it.
The longest relationship she ever had was a little over six months, and it should have been over way before then, but the guy had been sweet and kept saying he loved her.
And although she liked him, she hadn’t wanted to hurt him because she didn’t feel the same way he did.
But in the end, she had to. Her main problem was she couldn’t find a man who could hold her interest in and out of the bedroom, and she refused to settle.
Coming to an abrupt halt in front of Ian, she tossed her arms out in exasperation. “Okay, I’ll admit I have no idea how to start this conversation, so can you do it, please?”
Smiling a devastatingly sexy smile, he held out his hand to her. “That’s what the Dom in me was waiting for. Come here, Angel, and sit next to me.”
She hesitated briefly before placing her hand in his and taking a seat.
He didn’t release her hand, which she found comforting despite her nervousness.
“Easy, sweetheart, you’re shaking.” She didn’t realize she was until he said it.
“I’m not going to throw you down and ravage you like some pirate sailing the seven seas… well, unless you ask me to.”
She giggled and relaxed a little as he continued. “How about I tell you about how I started in the lifestyle, why I like it, and stuff like that, hmmm?”
When she nodded, he kissed her knuckles before resting their hands on his thigh.
“Okay. I was introduced to BDSM when I was twenty-two, almost twenty-three, by one of my chiefs in the Navy.
He told me he watched me one night when a bunch of us were out at this bar with some Navy groupies.
Said he saw something in me which made him believe I would be interested in the lifestyle.
Apparently, I acted like a Dom before I even knew what one was.
“So, one night, he and two other guys we knew took me to my first club and, shit… talk about a culture shock. Here I was, not a clue what I was doing there, and all these men and women from ages twenty to seventy were walking around in everything from everyday clothing to leather, lingerie, or their birthday suits. Sounds of spankings, whippings, moaning and groaning, sex, and intense orgasms came from different scenes, and I didn’t know where to look first. Hell, I was embarrassed and intrigued at the same time.
“I didn’t play during my first night or the next few visits either.
Instead, I just walked around and observed.
I talked to everyone willing to talk to me and explain what they got out of their individual kinks and what made them a Dom or a submissive.
It didn’t take long for me to learn a submissive has all the control in every D/s relationship. ”
Angie’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “How’s that possible? Don’t they have to follow their Dom’s orders?”
“Every D/s relationship—and I’m not talking about people who claim to be in the lifestyle to justify hurting someone, like a domestic abuser, or people who dabble in a little slap and tickle in the bedroom.
I’m talking about a true power-exchange relationship between a Dominant and a submissive.
In every relationship or one-time encounter, the submissive willingly allows his or her Dom to give them what they want and need.
Submissives maintain all the control of a scene from their negotiations with a Dom to their hard and soft limits and safewords.
They can end a scene anytime they want if something doesn’t feel right.