Chapter 1
Chapter One
Law
Watching Iris moving across the floor of Stronghold, wearing nothing but a tight miniskirt and electrical tape over her nipples, Law reminded himself—again—she was off-limits.
It wasn’t that her outfit was particularly risqué, not for Stronghold.
The kink club was filled with people wearing regular clothing, fetwear, or nothing at all.
Having her abundant curves on display was nothing new and nothing he hadn’t seen before.
Yet he had trouble keeping his eyes off her, even though he knew he should. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, but not this closely.
Sure, she was beautiful, and for some reason, her sassy mouth appealed to him—even though he wanted a well-behaved submissive who did as she was told—but there were so many other reasons he needed to stay hands-off. One of which was standing behind the bar, glaring at him… as usual.
Andrew hadn’t been a fan of his since Law had threatened to spank Iris a few days ago if she didn’t shape up, right in front of her brother. He was pretty sure what set Andrew off was that Law had meant it.
The brother and sister should not be allowed to work the same shift, but since when did anyone around here listen to his opinion?
“How goes the watch?” A heavy hand clapped the back of his shoulder in greeting, and Connor’s deep voice filled with amusement.
Scowling, Law looked up at his giant friend. For someone who stood close to six and a half feet, Connor could be surprisingly stealthy. Then again, Law was distracted.
“You’d think after almost a month, you would be tired of that joke.” Law was tired of hearing it, even if Connor wasn’t tired of telling it.
The big guy grinned down at him. With his auburn hair and beard and massive stature, he looked like he belonged in Game of Thrones. Throw a few furs on him, give him an axe, and he’d fit right in.
“You’re the one who wears all black, takes life way too seriously, and has been celibate for months,” Connor replied easily. He smiled widely at the submissive who came up to take his drink order as he sat down at the bar table with Law.
Iris was serving in the Lounge area, which is where Law deliberately had her assigned all the time, rather than letting her serve in the bar. That way, he could keep an eye on her but still relax with his friends.
What he could not do was scene. The one time he’d gone to help with a scene, she’d tossed a drink in a Dom’s face.
Granted, the Dom in question had said something offensive and had been kicked out of Stronghold for his troubles, but Iris should have told him, her brother, one of the Dungeon Monitors, or anyone, but instead, she’d reacted without thinking. As usual.
The only reason he’d only warned her instead of actually spanking her was she had been pretty well behaved for the past few weeks, the Dom really had deserved it, and… her brother had been looming beside him.
Yeah, add him to the softies who were having trouble giving her the discipline she really needed because of the circumstances.
He wasn’t afraid of Andrew, but he didn’t want to face off with big brother unless the reason truly warranted it, and that particular incident hadn’t. Especially since she was so close to finishing out her month.
She really had been good. He’d only had to dole out a few punishments, none of which had been a spanking.
She’d hated writing the essay about why, in Stronghold, all Dominants deserved to be spoken to with respect.
Overall, though, she’d been a lot less trouble than he’d initially thought she would be.
Sometimes, he wondered if he was disappointed because part of him was itching to spank her delectable ass. Just once.
Which was another reason he had only warned her instead of doing it. She tested his control in a way he wasn’t proud of.
“Any plans for tonight?” Law asked Connor once the other man had ordered. As usual, Law was drinking iced tea. One of the things he really appreciated about his friends here was they never asked why that was all he drank.
“Not yet,” Connor said affably. “I figured I’d sit down and see what I feel like doing.”
Connor was a very ‘go with the flow’ kind of guy. Just thinking about it made Law itch. He hated not having a plan.
“Oh, hey, there’s Asad.” Connor raised his hand, waving across the room as a dark-haired Dom came into the main room. Considering how tall he was, Connor waving was impossible to miss, even sitting down. Asad saw them and grinned widely, heading toward them.
Law waved too, glancing over at Iris before he focused on greeting Asad. Just to make sure she was staying out of trouble. Not because she happened to be bending over with her cute little ass pointed right at him. That definitely wasn’t why.
Iris
“He’s staring at your ass,” Amy whispered to her.
“He is not.” Iris straightened and glanced over her shoulder. Her Watch Dom was saying hello to Master Asad, not looking at her ass. She looked back at Amy, scowling, and the blonde spread her hands wide.
“He was looking, I swear. He watches you a lot when you don’t realize.” Amy’s smile was mischievous.
If she was someone else, Iris might not have believed her, but Amy was nice, even if most of her friends weren’t.
Iris tried not to judge Amy by her friends since she was hardly one to talk.
Besides, she was pretty sure Amy’s niceness was exactly how she’d gotten caught up in that particular group of Stronghold subs—she was too nice to break away from them.
Iris snorted.
“That’s because he’s sure the second he takes his eye off me, I’ll get into trouble.” Something flipped in her stomach—she really didn’t want to get into trouble.
Every night, at the end of her shift, when she’d done a good job, Master Law told her she’d been a good girl in that gruff way of his. Sure, he’d said it almost suspiciously the first few nights, but now he just said it, and every time it happened, it was the best moment of her day.
There had only been a few days when she’d missed the mark. Though when he’d threatened to spank her for pouring a drink out on Chad’s lap, it hadn’t been her worst moment.
The worst day had been when she’d mouthed off to her brother—who’d deliberately been a dick—and Master Law just shook his head and looked away. No ‘good girl’ that day. No praise. No reaction.
Iris was willing to be very, very good if it meant avoiding another day like that.
“You’ve barely gotten into trouble all month,” Amy replied, shaking her head. “By now, he should know he doesn’t need to worry about that. The only times you do something are when it’s deserved.”
Warmth filled Iris’ chest, and she smiled.
It was nice to have that acknowledged. Why was it so much easier for women to notice her effort and praise her?
Master Law was the only one who seemed to notice out of the Doms. Her brother sure as hell didn’t.
He’d spent his whole life only paying attention to her when she was affecting him, which hadn’t changed now that they were adults.
“I’m trying. Only a few more days and I’m free of my Watch Dom.” Oddly, she would miss it. She’d been pissed when she’d realized Patrick had assigned Master Law to keep an eye on her, but with every ‘good girl’ she’d received, she was a lot less mad about it.
What was she going to do when it was gone?
Oh, go cry about it, why don’t you?
Yeah, melancholy was not her normal state.
“Who are you hanging out with tonight?” she asked Amy.
“Morgan’s coming by soon, and I think Zach might be in later, but I don’t know if he’ll be available to scene.
” Though Amy’s expression didn’t change, there was something in her voice whenever she said Zach’s name.
She was still wearing another man’s ring on her finger, and she was devoted to her fiancé.
Iris’ understanding was Amy only scened platonically because her fiancé was completely vanilla but knew about her kink and was ‘understanding.’
They were also monogamous, so either he was one really understanding guy, or he didn’t care about Amy.
Iris hoped it was the latter because she was pretty sure Zach was in love with Amy, and he was a nice guy.
He also had a boyfriend, who didn’t mind that Zach and Amy scened together, and Kincaid was definitely completely in love with Zach.
Kink was very complicated sometimes.
“Great, well, I’ll be right back with your drink.” She gave Amy a smile and straightened. Back to work.
She had a ‘good girl’ to earn by the end of the night.
Law
Hanging out with Connor and Asad was always interesting.
Connor rarely glanced over at the Lounge area, where the submissives were gathered, hoping to be approached by a Master who wanted to scene, and Asad never took his eyes off it.
Commitment-phobe was Asad’s middle name, but he loved to scene, whereas, so far, Connor had to be pushed into finding a submissive to connect with.
The Dom class had been to help him find confidence, but he was still shy, even though the subs loved him.
“Only a few more weeks until Renn Fair. We’re still going Opening Day, right?” Asad asked, grinning as Connor groaned.
“I hate Opening Day. It’s too hot. Can’t we wait a few weeks until the weather cools down?”
“And miss out on the day when the women will be wearing the least amount of clothes? Absolutely not.”
“It’s not like you can’t come here to see half-clothed women,” Connor grumped.
“You’ll even see a lot of the same women there.
” The kink community and the Renn Fair community as a Venn Diagram were basically one big overlap.
Add in cosplay and nerds, and the Venn Diagrams turned into a stack of pancakes.
Law’s lips twitched. Connor had a point, but he didn’t think that would stop them.
They’d met at Renn Fair, and it was tradition to go to Opening Day together.
“Some, but not all.” Asad’s grin widened. “And some I haven’t met might be eager to ride the Persian Excursion.”
Connor and Law groaned. Asad had found out that was what the Stronghold subs called him, and he’d embraced the nickname wholeheartedly. Even used it as a pickup line.
“The fact you actually like to be called something that makes you sound like a tourist trap is really telling,” Law said, shaking his head, but he couldn’t stop smiling.
“It’s not a trap, more of a catch and release program. Thank you, love.” Asad turned his attention to their server, who blushed bright pink as he took his drink and winked.
“Thank you, Sir… I mean, you’re welcome, Sir.” She blushed even deeper and practically fled.
Asad tended to have that effect on the submissives.
“Speaking of traps,” Asad murmured, his eyes shifting.
Law knew Iris must be coming up behind him. It was about time for the end of her shift.
As if on cue, he could see her friends, Domi, Rae, and Avery, walking into the club with Domi’s boyfriend, Mitch. They usually showed up to hang out with Iris on the nights she was working once she was done.
Law turned before she reached him, enjoying the look of surprise on her face as he swiveled around to face her before she’d said his name. It wasn’t often he got to throw Iris off balance. Normally, it was the other way around.
“All done?” he asked. She nodded, hands clasped in front of her, shifting back and forth nervously on her toes for a moment. Over the past few weeks, Law had come to realize she wasn’t quite as self-assured as she liked to pretend. “Good girl. Go have fun with your friends.”
Lighting up, Iris smiled and took off, heading for the little group already sitting at one of the bar tables.
“Man, that girl has got it bad for you,” Asad said.
Law jolted in his seat.
“What?” He couldn’t have heard that correctly. Turning, he stared at Asad, who was looking back at him with a bit of consternation. Even Connor was staring at Law, not Asad, even though Asad had just said the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.
“Iris? The cute little subbie you warned me off three weeks ago?” Asad tipped his head. “Did you not notice how she lit up the moment you called her a good girl? I assumed you warned me off because you want her for yourself, but you really didn’t know, did you?”
“There’s nothing to know.” Law’s scattered thoughts came back online, and he shook his head as though he could shake off Asad’s words with the motion. “You’re reading too much into things.”
There was no way Iris liked him like that—she didn’t actually like him at all. Besides, he was far too old for her, and she was too young and bratty for him. She needed someone younger and happier. Someone who would enjoy bringing her in line and who could put up with her wildness.
Someone who was definitely not him.