9. Class is in Session
Class is in Session
Q
“Knees farther apart.” The crop that smacked his inner thigh wasn’t gentle, and Q gritted his teeth while Sam covered her mouth with her hand, watching Mistress Julie correct his position. Her eyes were dancing with mirth.
As far as classes went, this was not as sexy as he’d been picturing it.
He’d forgotten that the initial classes for the Dom group had been a lot more about function than anything else.
The sub classes were turning out to be the same.
His only saving grace was that Mistress Julie, not Law, was keeping an eye on him and Sam tonight.
She and Law seemed to have split the class, so Law didn’t have to spend time correcting him or Noelle, though for very different reasons. Q preferred it this way. He wasn’t sure how he would react to his friend smacking him with a crop.
It was easier to take instruction from Mistress Julie, even if it stung like a bitch whenever she wielded that crop of hers.
He also understood why Law wouldn’t want to be in charge of Noelle, considering she was an ex-friend of his current girlfriend and submissive.
So far, she was behaving perfectly for Mistress Julie, though he did see her looking over where Law was working with Steve, Emerson, and Cassidy more than once.
She might just be curious.
Not my business.
“Better,” Mistress Julie said, giving him an approving nod. She turned away to check on Noelle, allowing Sam to step back into place.
“Did you like the crop?” Sam asked, tapping the one she was holding against the knee-high boot on her right foot. Those boots were sexy as hell, and Q had a perfect view of them from his current position. Being on his knees also gave him a delightful perspective of her very short skirt.
“Yes, Mistress Sam,” he said truthfully, cocking his head at her.
On his knees, with the backs of his hands resting on his thighs, even though he was wearing shorts, he felt incredibly vulnerable and far more submissive than he usually did.
There really was something to be said about the body helping with the mindset.
Sam walked around him, the flat leather on the end of the crop tapping gently against his pec and then tracing over his shoulder and upper back as she moved. It lifted, and he only had a moment before it landed with a stinging smack against his ass.
Ow.
Also… hot.
No, he wasn’t much of a masochist, but Sam hadn’t put much force behind the blow.
Q was far more turned on by the way she was pacing around him, making him wait for whatever it was she wanted to do to him.
Already his erection—which had deflated a bit during the more boring part of learning about the kneeling position and the various options for how to place one’s hands—was thickening with interest again.
This was more of an honor bondage kind of situation. He stayed in position while she touched him however she wanted. Part of the eroticism came from the choice to submit.
As if his thought had echoed around the room, he heard Steve speaking up with a question.
“So, what if I stand up, even though I’m supposed to be kneeling?” It was clear from Steve’s tone that he wasn’t trying to be a brat. He was just curious.
“It depends on your Dom and what you negotiated beforehand,” Law said. “Some might punish you. Some might consider the scene over. Some might want to talk to you about why you felt the need to stand.”
“What if we don’t want to be punished?” That was Noelle. Unlike Steve, her tone was more like she was challenging what Master Law was saying, but he wasn’t the one who answered her.
“Then don’t stand up.” Mistress Julie’s sadistic chuckle was echoed by Law’s.
“When it comes down to it, the submissives have the power. You safe word if something goes beyond what you’re comfortable with.
Your Dom can’t really force you to do anything you really don’t want to do.
And if they do, they aren’t a Dom, they’re an abuser. ”
Though she didn’t look at Cassidy, Q felt like her words were directed at the quiet submissive.
The one who’d had a Dom who not only pushed her past her limits but had ignored her safeword.
That had been a whole thing, which had ended when the douche canoe deliberately rammed Law’s car after getting kicked out of Stronghold.
So far, Law hadn’t pressed charges, but he had a year to decide to do so, and he’d had friends in the prosecutor’s office who were happy to follow his lead.
It gave Cassidy some breathing room because if douche canoe bothered her again, Law was going to come after him with the full force of, well, the law.
Hopefully, by the time the year was up, her ex would have forgotten about her.
Hopefully.
“Doms will sometimes push your soft limits, but any stretching of any limits should be discussed beforehand, and you don’t have to agree to them pushing you.
You also can stretch your hard limits, but only if you want to.
You give the Doms the lines, they color within those boundaries. ” Law looked around the room sternly.
“What if you have trouble telling them no?” Emerson asked, sounding a bit worried. Q looked over to see they were looking at Cassidy, whose head was down as she stared at the floor. He didn’t know how much experience Emerson had with kink, but clearly, they knew something about Cassidy’s situation.
“You can always come find one of us, and we’ll tell them for you.” Mistress Julie’s smile was as cold as a shark’s. “Grab a Dungeon Monitor, an instructor, a Dom you’re comfortable with, or Law’s submissive, and they’ll take care of the problem for you.”
Law pinched the bridge of his nose but didn’t protest the idea that they go to Iris.
Considering Iris was the one who had originally rescued Cassidy, it would be hard to make that argument, though Law clearly wanted to.
He hadn’t been happy about Iris jumping in rather than getting a Dungeon Monitor.
Sam
Glancing down at Q, she saw him shaking his head, a little smile on his lips at Mistress Julie’s speech. She didn’t really know Iris or Cassidy, but she’d heard the story. Poor Cassidy. Sam could only imagine how difficult it was to be in a club where everyone knew your business.
On the other hand, Cassidy was hardly the only one people talked about. Sometimes it seemed like Stronghold and Marquis ran on gossip. Granted, they didn’t always get things right, and it never seemed like malicious gossip, but it was part of the community.
“Okay, everyone, that’s it for tonight,” Master Law said, giving Mistress Julie a look that didn’t seem to faze her in the least.
Sam wondered if she’d ever be as unfazed by a Dom giving her a hard look or if that was something that would always affect her because she had a strong subbie side. She aspired to be more like Mistress Julie with her indifference to Master Law’s annoyance.
“Thanks for coming, and we’ll see the subs next week. Doms, you get the week off, but be back the week after and ready for some hands-on interaction.” Master Law grinned, his gaze falling to rest on Q.
Getting to his feet, Q appeared to either not notice or was ignoring the look Master Law had given him.
“Wanna go downstairs and get a drink?” he asked, his gaze solidly fixed on Sam.
“Sure.”
She’d kind of been hoping he’d ask. Which confused her even as she was relieved that he had. If she was the Dominant one, shouldn’t she ask? It was easier to let him do the asking when it came to anything outside of the class.
Was she being a bad Dominant?
Q slipped his hand in hers, distracting her, and she smiled.
She’d dressed a little more conservatively today, no longer feeling like she needed to armor up around him.
The dress she was wearing was still sexy and made her feel like a boss bitch, but it wasn’t a corset, and she could easily go straight downstairs to the Marquis bar without standing out.
Which she’d planned on in case she and Q went down there after class.
She turned slightly to wave to the others. Noelle was busy talking to Master Leo, who she’d been paired with, but Emerson and Steve waved back to her. Since Noelle was deep in conversation with her class partner, Sam didn’t take it personally that the other woman didn’t see her.
“Have a good rest of the weekend?” Q asked as they walked downstairs. Sam stepped carefully. The heels on her boots were higher than she normally wore, and she didn’t want to trip and fall.
“I did. Got all the laundry done and everything.”
“Now that is an accomplishment.”
Sam giggled as they made their way through the hall into the restaurant portion.
As usual it wasn’t too busy at this time on a Monday night, so they headed for what she was already starting to think of as ‘their’ corner of the bar.
Shane came right over to take their drink order before making himself scarce.
“So…” The way Q said it made the single word a complete sentence.
“So...” Sam didn’t really know what else to say, either. She ran her finger around the top of her glass, tilting her head so she could see his face. A bit of a blush began to creep into her cheeks.
She was trying really hard not to think about Saturday night and how it had felt to be spanked, then cuddled.
Or how it had felt to have him on his knees before her upstairs.
Sure, it had been for class, but it wasn’t that hard to picture him in the same position somewhere they’d have more privacy…
like her bedroom. Or even one of the private rooms upstairs.
It was a little embarrassing how much she was looking forward to when the class moved to the private rooms. She’d had a lot of fun in those rooms during her previous classes, sometimes with sex and sometimes without, but she hadn’t been interested in any of her partners the way she was with Q.
Okay, maybe a small crush on Kincaid, but she’d sensed from the beginning that he didn’t feel the same way about her, so that had died down pretty quickly.
With Q, it was obvious he was just as attracted to her as she was to him. Not only that, but he liked her—like liked her—which made her feel like they were back in high school, except way better because they weren’t.
“Was my pose really that bad or what?” he asked.
“Or what.” Sam grinned at him. “Mistress Julie is a stickler for the positions. I thought you were fine. Though I didn’t mind seeing her give you a hard time.”
“At least it wasn’t Law. That’s what I kept telling myself.”
She laughed.
“Yeah, I can see where that would be pretty weird. You guys are pretty good friends?” She let her voice lilt up, turning it into a question.
From what she knew about Q, he’d started coming to Stronghold and Marquis because of his friend Angel, but Sam saw him hanging out mostly with Law, Connor, and Asad.
“We’re getting there.” Q smiled, reaching out with his left hand to rest it on her knee.
It felt nice. Kind of possessive but without making her feel uncomfortable. Mostly, she wanted him to move it higher.
“It’s been good getting to know him, Connor, and Asad.
My friend Angel was the one who convinced me to come to Stronghold, but she’s busy with her husband Adam and their baby.
I’m friends with all of her friends who are also members, but they’re all in serious relationships, if they aren’t already engaged or married. ”
“You feel like the odd man out?”
“Yeah. Not because they mean to make me feel that way, and all of them are great to hang out with even when they’re being all couple-y, but it’s been nice having a few single friends to hang out with. Especially since Connor is also pretty new to all this.”
That made sense. Sam envied him the ease with which he talked about his friends.
She’d felt like the odd woman out of the entire club for a while, which was probably how she’d ended up being friends with Morgan since they were both the odd woman out.
Both were new to the scene, and poor Morgan had had even less idea of how to make friends than Sam had.
Q’s words made her wonder if he was intent on remaining single…
though Law now had a girlfriend and as far as she could tell, he and Iris were serious.
She didn’t know for sure since it wasn’t like she and Iris were friends.
Iris had been picked up and added to a little group with two of the other submissives who had been in the first class Sam had taken, the one where she’d met Morgan.
Rae and Domi had been nice, but kept to themselves, which had left her and Morgan to make friends.
Why they’d suddenly decided to start reaching out after the class and made friends with Avery, another submissive, and Iris, she had no idea. It had hurt to know that, for some reason, she hadn’t made the cut, but she tried to take Morgan’s lead in not caring.
“I get that. Especially here. I’m sure it can be disconcerting knowing your friends are going off to have sex.” She laughed when he made a face.
“Or knowing you could go watch them if you wanted.” Q shook his head. “That’s something I’m still getting used to.”
“Not into public sex?”
“It doesn’t bother me, but it doesn’t do much for me, either,” he confessed. “Not really one of my kinks. What about you?”
“Pretty much the same.” She shrugged. “If given the choice, I’d rather be private.”
Q’s fingers squeezed her knee, sending a sizzle of awareness through her as he caressed the sensitive inside of her leg. That one small touch heated up all her senses.
“Speaking of being more private, are you planning on going to Stronghold or Marquis this weekend?” he asked, angling his body a little more toward hers. Sam’s heart pitter-pattered with excitement as she realized he was going to ask her to scene again.
Unfortunately…
“I’m helping Morgan move on Saturday,” she replied regretfully. “We’re getting an early start and I’ll probably be exhausted at the end, so I actually hadn’t planned to go this weekend.”
“Ah. I’d offer to come help, but I already have plans for Saturday afternoon… maybe we could get together for dinner afterward?”
If her heart had pitter-pattered before, now it did a happy little jump in her chest.
“Like on a date?” The question popped out before she really thought it through. She wanted to groan because she sounded so desperate. Q just smiled, not at all put off by her over eagerness.
He leaned in, lowering his voice to a seductive croon.
“Exactly like a date.”
Excitement pulsed through her.
“I’d love that.”
This time, when he walked her to her car, he kissed her before letting her get in. A toe-curling, panty-wetting kiss that left her panting for more, hot all over despite the cold night air.
Holy crap, I have a date!