Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Iris
“Hello, hello!” Iris gleefully accepted the hugs from everyone, including Mitch. He might be a bossy Dom and kind of terrifying as a sadist, but he was also a total goofball and a great hugger. He liked to joke that he was layered.
“Are you done with your shift?” Avery asked, patting the chair next to her since she already knew the answer. Curves packed into a corset, her dark blonde hair waved around her shoulders, and she tossed back the strands to get them out of her face.
“Yes.” Iris groaned a little as she sat down, getting off her feet. “I don’t know how you stand in the kitchen all day long. My feet are killing me after just a short shift.”
“To be fair, I don’t wear heels in the kitchen.
I wear special shoes, and we have pads to stand on, which are supposed to help with the long hours,” Avery pointed out.
She was a sous chef for Marquis, a restaurant on its main floor, and served as a kinky sister club to Stronghold on its second.
Right now, her boyfriend and Dom, Nick, would be finishing out his shift as the executive chef.
“And my feet are killing me by the end of the day, even with all that.”
“The heels might not have been the best idea.” Some submissives did bare feet while they were serving, but about half wore heels, and Iris had decided she was going to be part of that half. Her legs looked good in heels, and she wanted to look good.
Not just because Master Law was watching her all night.
She peeked over her shoulder. He’d gone back to talking to his friends, a seriously hot group of single Doms. It was no wonder the subbies were all drooling over them.
While she was pathetically still all warm and glowy inside from earning her ‘good girl.’
Yup. Pathetic.
“Still drooling over Master Law?” Rae elbowed her in the side.
Dressed in a pink and green tutu, which matched the two green braids amid the many long brown braids, and a pink bra, she looked as if she could be on her way to a rave right now.
The bright neon colors were gorgeous against her brown skin, and Iris had a moment of stark envy.
Neon colors like that always washed her out.
“I am not drooling,” she responded indignantly. As if she would ever drool over a man. Salted caramel butter bars, sure. Men? No. Not even Jason Momoa. “I am lusting from afar on my completely inappropriate crush, with no drool involved.”
Even as she joked, a niggle in her stomach made her squirm uncomfortably. While she might joke about it, she wondered if there was more beneath it than she wanted to admit. Like, yeah, she had a little crush.
It had turned out Law wasn’t the unreasonable hardass he’d made himself out to be. When she’d put in the effort, he actually noticed. Praised her for it, even. It might be sad that something so little could make any kind of impact on her, but it did.
While he might have called her ‘trouble’ a month ago in Patrick’s office, he’d been willing to let his perception change once he saw her trying. That was really rare in her world.
“He is hot,” Avery said, glancing over. “I don’t usually go for bald guys, but he pulls it off.”
“Yeah, he does,” Domi joined in, causing Mitch to frown. “He’s like a sexy Filipino Mr. Clean, but with facial hair.”
“Hey, I’m right here. I can hear you.”
Giggling, Domi tipped her head back at her boyfriend with his full head of blond hair.
“That’s what you get for insisting on coming to ladies’ night.”
“Nick will be here when he’s done for the night,” Avery said encouragingly, patting Mitch on the shoulder. He looked as though he was considering going all Dom on Domi’s ass. It kept her on her toes that he could flip a switch, just like that, and suddenly, her bratty mouth was in trouble.
On the other hand, Iris had a feeling Domi liked to provoke it. She might look like a pixie, so petite and cute with a riot of dark brown curls, but she was a total brat when she wanted to be.
She exchanged a look with Rae, the other single in their group.
They were happy for Domi and Avery, but Iris felt a bit of envy.
She wasn’t sure she would find what they had here at Stronghold.
Even though she and Andrew had agreed to come on opposite nights when they wanted to scene, his friends were still always around.
While she got that he didn’t want her to go to clubs where she might not be as safe as she was at Stronghold, it was almost too safe at Stronghold.
Being a sub for the Dominance class had been nice because it had been at Marquis, and she hadn’t been around her big brother’s friends, who had a bad habit of coming over to talk to her when she was in discussions with a prospective Dom.
Except, they didn’t really come over to talk to her.
They came over to talk to the Dom who had approached her, and it wasn’t as though they were trying to chase him off, but that’s what ended up happening every time.
It was a little demoralizing.
Rae’s problem was she totally had a thing for Mitch’s friend Brian but wasn’t willing to admit it.
Brian was one hundred percent a Daddy Dom, and Rae insisted she had no interest in a Daddy Dom, even if she dressed like a baby girl whenever she was at the club.
It was too bad because Iris thought they’d make a good couple, but it wasn’t her business.
“Are you two crazy kids planning on playing tonight?” she asked Mitch, distracting him from his contemplation of whether to Dom out on Domi.
“Yes.” He tugged one of Domi’s curls, pulling it down and letting it go, so it sprang back into place. “I’ve reserved one of the rooms, but she doesn’t know which one yet.”
“It’s the interrogation room,” Domi said, a little smile curving one side of her lips.
“It’s important to maintain an aura of mystery to keep the relationship interesting,” Mitch said a little louder, acting like he hadn’t heard her.
“It’s the interrogation room.”
Mitch got a little louder.
“Which is why I make sure to regularly surprise Domi.”
“It’s still the interrogation room.”
“Are you two going to the interrogation room tonight?” A smiling face appeared behind Avery but not Nick—Brian quickly followed by Mitch’s friends, Kincaid and Zach, who were holding hands.
Though Iris noticed Zach glanced over at the Lounge area, where Amy was sitting and chatting with her friends Caroline and Morgan.
“No.”
“Yes.” Domi grinned when Mitch grabbed a fistful of her hair, bending her head back so she was forced to look up at him. The move also made her breasts move within her corset.
“It’s not the interrogation room, little brat, and you’d better watch it, or you’re going to get more than you bargained for tonight.” The threat was made with a growl.
Rae and Iris sighed simultaneously. That was hot.
Law
Glancing over to where the group around Iris had grown larger, Law’s jaw clenched at the sight of her laughing up at something Kincaid had said. Where had Zach gone? It only took him a moment to find Kincaid’s boyfriend—in the Lounge area, talking to Amy.
Were they looking for a poly arrangement? Kincaid and Zach together but each with their own girlfriends as well?
No, that couldn’t be it. Everyone knew Amy was engaged. Maybe Kincaid was looking for someone to scene with when Zach was with Amy.
Why that didn’t sit well in his gut, he didn’t know, except… Iris deserved a Dom who was fully interested in her. Not someone who needed a placeholder while their boyfriend scened with someone else.
“Go ask her to scene with you once she’s allowed to,” Asad whispered in his ear, making Law jump.
Turning away from the sight of Kincaid and Iris talking, Law glared at his friend.
“Why must you insist on trying to push me and Iris together?” he asked.
“She’s cute, and she looks at you like she likes you.
She also melts when you call her a good girl.
Aka, she’s interested in you, and she’s the first woman I’ve seen you interested in for ages.
” Asad picked up his drink, sipping and raising his eyebrows as he let those words sink in.
“Whether or not you’re willing to admit it, the chemistry there is undeniable. ”
Law looked at Connor to see what he thought, but Connor wasn’t looking at him.
He was looking at the next table over—in the opposite direction of Iris—where another newer Dom, who went by the nickname Q, was sitting by himself.
A few minutes ago, he’d been with his friends, Adam and Angel, but they must have gone off to scene or home to their baby.
Law hadn’t noticed because he’d been so busy staring at Iris’ table.
Talk about a humbling experience.
“Hey, Q, wanna come sit with us?” Connor asked, causing Asad and Law to look at each other in surprise. Connor was shy, though he had gotten to know Q during the class. Maybe the combination of knowing him a little and the confidence from the Dom class was breaking him out of his shell.
Law didn’t have any objection to Q joining them. He’d enjoyed getting to know Q during the class and had a feeling Q and Asad would get along fabulously.
“Yeah, sure. Thanks,” Q said, getting up and moving over to one of the empty stools at their table. “Apparently, the interrogation room has greater appeal than hanging out with me.”
“That’s a hard truth to deny,” Asad said with a chuckle, holding out his hand. “Hi, I’m Asad, and clearly, you already know Law and Connor.”
“Q. Nice to meet you.” Q was about their age, in his early thirties, and a self-proclaimed nerd.
In some ways, he reminded Law of a smaller version of Patrick, with the same bald head and dark skin, but while Patrick was big and broad, Q was slimly muscled like a swimmer or basketball player. “What are you all up to tonight?”
“Bothering Law about Iris.” Asad grinned and tipped his head toward the woman in question, ignoring Law’s groan.
“I thought we could move on from that topic.”
“If you don’t want to talk about Iris, stop looking at her.”
“He has a point,” Connor chimed in, and Law glared at him. Whose side was he on? Looking away, Connor shrugged one shoulder, but not before Law saw the smile on his face, even if it was partially obscured by his beard.
“I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on her. My responsibility doesn’t end just because her shift did.” He was pretty sure Patrick had meant it to, but Law couldn’t just switch his feelings on and off.
“Iris is nice. She can take care of herself, though, and if she runs into anything here, I’m pretty sure Angel’s entire group of friends will come down on them like a ton of bricks,” Q said. “Even if she wasn’t Andrew’s little sister. They all adore her.”
“Can we please talk about anything else?” Law did his best not to turn his head to look at Iris again, which is what he wanted to do, even as he demanded his friends change the topic.
“She only has a few more days left of her punishment, then I won’t have to watch her.
Next Thursday is the final day for both of us. Okay?”
His friends and Q nodded solemnly. The truth was, Law wasn’t sure he’d be able to switch it off even then since he’d been watching out for her for so long, but he was going to make an effort.
“So, did you want to scene tonight?” Asad asked Q, though his attention was on the Lounge area. “I think I might see if there are any subbies willing to play.”
It was Asad, which meant there definitely would be. He was attractive, smooth, and damn good at what he did. Q, on the other hand, was a newer to the scene and could probably use some help. Asad was basically offering to be his wingman.
Law chuckled, taking a healthy swig of iced tea… then had to jerk his eyes away from Iris because they’d already drifted back.
Dammit.