Epilogue – New Year’s Eve
Epilogue – New Year’s Eve
Q
A black-tie kink party was a party like Q had never seen.
The outfits ranged from fully covered to completely revealed and everything in between.
Some people took the ‘black tie’ suggestion to mean wearing nothing but a black tie.
Some, like Asad, had put on black underwear to go with their tie.
Others, like Q and Law, were in full tuxedos.
Most of the women were dressed in long dresses or gowns, though some of those gowns were completely sheer, had lots of cutouts, or both.
Sam had opted for a corset-style gown that showcased her breasts, but the skirt had slits on the sides up to her hips, and she wasn’t wearing any underwear.
Q liked to try to catch glimpses of her neatly shaved pussy whenever she moved.
Just for fun.
Marquis was decorated gorgeously, both upstairs and downstairs, with lots of sparkle, though no glitter.
Patrick had expressly forbidden it. There were a lot of lights and shiny decorations that made up for it.
The big man himself was moving through the space, Lexie tucked neatly under his arm.
In deference to her brother in attendance, she was wearing a silvery gown rather than going naked.
Q was pretty sure that as soon as Jake and Sharon took their leave, so would Lexie’s dress.
“It’s almost midnight.” Asad looked around the room. He was standing next to Q at the cocktail table where they’d parked themselves, so they had a place to rest their food and drink. “I need to find someone to kiss.”
“Just kiss?” Sam asked, amused.
“I never said where I’d be kissing her.” Asad winked before turning away. Grinning, he disappeared into the crowd, leaving the others to shake their heads.
“Are you going to find someone to kiss?” Q looked up at Connor, who had come on his own but hadn’t seemed interested in mingling with anyone but his close friends.
“I’m still looking for someone to kiss, Master Connor!”
It was all Q could do not to flinch when Noelle’s voice rang out behind him. On the other side of the table, Iris’ expression went carefully blank. Law frowned before he quickly schooled his expression.
If he’d realized she was there, he wouldn’t have said anything.
“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming tonight,” Sam said, appearing delighted as she shifted away from Q to give Noelle a welcoming hug. “I thought you had a hot date.”
“Turned out to be not so hot.” Noelle rolled her eyes, hugging Sam back, but her gaze was still on Connor, who looked a little bit like a deer in the headlights.
Thankfully, before he had to say anything, Morgan came up beside him, linking her arm through his.
“Hey, Master Connor, it’s almost midnight!” The way she said the words made it seem like they had a prior arrangement, and Connor relaxed.
“Oh, is Master Connor your midnight kiss?” Noelle asked, looking disappointed.
“Yes, but… oh, hey I didn’t know you were going to be here. Do you need a partner? We could share.” Morgan blinked. She was so sincere, Q couldn’t tell if she and Connor had actually made plans to be each other’s midnight kiss.
“My date was a bust,” Noelle said, stepping forward to give Morgan a hug.
Q glanced over at Law and Iris to see how they were taking this, but they’d both turned away.
It looked like Olivia and Luke had come up behind them and were talking to them, taking their attention away from Noelle.
Possibly a coincidence, but Q wouldn’t be surprised if they’d seen Noelle and decided to stage a rescue.
Turning back to the others, he wrapped one arm around Sam to keep her by his side. They only had a few minutes left.
“I’ll go find someone to kiss.” Noelle tossed her hair. He wasn’t sure, but it seemed like she was talking a little louder than she had been before. “I’m not going to take your man or ever do anything to jeopardize our friendship.”
There was something in her tone that made Q think her words were a jab at Iris, but if they were, they missed the mark. Iris was laughing at something Olivia said and didn’t appear to have heard Noelle.
It was hard to tell, though. Noelle didn’t react to being ignored by Iris—if she’d been trying to get her attention in the first place. She just waved cheerily and walked off, disappearing into the crowd in search of someone to kiss.
He hoped Asad stayed clear of her.
Almost as soon as she was gone, Olivia looked up from her conversation with Iris and smiled at him and Sam.
“I see you two worked things out. I should have known Sam wouldn’t need the Olivia hotline.” She grinned at Sam. “Keep him in line.”
“Hey,” Q complained, sensing that he was being maligned.
“One more minute!” Someone yelled, cutting off any protest he might have made.
Suddenly there was a bustle of activity as everyone was passing champagne flutes. A server was skillfully weaving through the crowd with sparkling apple cider for those who weren’t drinking, and Law quickly snagged a glass as they went by.
Sam turned to Q, her eyes sparkling, one hand held aloft with the champagne flute.
“Did you ever hear the superstition that whatever you’re doing at midnight when the year turns over, that’s what you’ll be doing the next year?”
“You’re so hot when you spout useless trivia,” he said sincerely. “Let’s make sure we’re set up for next year.”
Wrapping his free arm around her waist, he took her lips in a kiss as everyone else started counting down. He wanted to make sure that he was going to start his new year off right—and also set himself up for the future he wanted not just for the next year, but for the rest of his life.
Freddy
As the champagne was passed around, Freddy smiled, hiding his own feelings of discontent. No one wanted a party pooper for the new year. It was no one’s fault that he was single, again, for the new year.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Emery snuggled up with Mistress Red, the two of them practically glowing as they looked at each other.
“You sure you don’t want to find someone other than me to kiss?” Steve asked, looking nervous.
“Hey, I thought we agreed we’d rather share a kiss with a friend than be kissing no one at all,” Freddy teased, before becoming more serious. “But it’s okay if you don’t want to. We can wait.”
Steve hadn’t been ‘out’ as a gay man for long.
Realizing that he was gay and kinky and submissive had been a lot for him, so Freddy had taken the other man under his wing.
He usually watched out for the club submissives, anyway, but Steve was a special case because he was also the younger brother of Freddy’s good friend Chris and because he was so new to every aspect of his sexuality.
Although Freddy was bi, he wasn’t sexually attracted to Steve, but he didn’t mind being there for a friend. Sure, he’d rather be kissing a hot Dominant at midnight, preferably a Domme, but this wasn’t so bad. It was better than last year when he’d kissed his champagne flute at midnight.
The countdown started.
“Ten!”
Movement caught Freddy’s eye, and he turned his head to see Master Eric headed for him and Steve with a determined look on his face.
“Nine!”
No, not toward him and Steve. Toward Steve. Oh, oh, oh! Freddy had told Steve that he thought Master Eric was interested!
“Eight!”
Steve had insisted that it was just a training relationship for the class. Didn’t look like that from the expression on Eric’s face.
“Seven.”
Master Eric had his eyes trained on Steve and was moving like a man on a mission.
“Six!”
Stepping back, Freddy pivoted and pulled Steve with him so that he was facing the right way.
“Five!”
“Freddy, wha—?
“Four!”
Master Eric was in front of them, hands coming up to cup Steve’s face.
“Three!”
“Say no if you don’t want me to kiss you.” Master Eric’s voice was low, rough.
Freddy sighed out loud. It was like a moment straight out of a movie.
“Two!”
“Yes,” Steve whispered.
“One! Happy New Year!”
Okay, well if he wasn’t getting a kiss of his own, at least Freddy was getting a front-row seat to some of the juiciest gossip—and one of the hottest kisses of the night. Damn. Master Eric looked like he was going to devour Steve, and Steve seemed inclined to let him.
Apparently, last year’s midnight did predict this year’s. He’d be sharing a kiss with his champagne again. He brought it to his lips while he watched Steve rub himself all over Master Eric.
Envy pulsed through Freddy, which he hated, but he knew it was normal.
Seeing so many of his friends pairing off made him more and more aware of what he ultimately wanted, what he wasn’t getting, and what he didn’t know how to get.
He’d played with just about every Dominant at Stronghold and Marquis, yet he’d never sparked with anyone.
Not the way Eric and Steve were sparking with each other right in front of him.
Considering he wasn’t picky about what gender he ended up with, he should have more chances than the heteros, yet here he was.
Someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned, holding back his sigh, expecting to see another of his friends there, someone who would want the gossip.
But it was a woman he’d never seen before.
Freddy blinked, his mind automatically running through his mental catalog of members, but no, he had definitely never seen her before.
He would have remembered.
She was about an inch shorter than him, but a quick glance confirmed she was wearing high heels, putting her another couple of inches shorter.
Curvy as hell and currently packed into a light green corset dress that barely contained her breasts, which were threatening to spill over at any moment.
Medium brown skin, dark brown eyes, and black curly hair that was styled naturally in a riot of springy coils that stood out around her head.
She looked like a goddess, and Freddy locked his knees against the instinct to drop and worship her.
“Hello, I’m so sorry, do I know you?” The urge to keep babbling about how he knew everyone at the club was strong, but he held it back.
Her lips curved in a stunning smile, and Freddy’s knees trembled.
“I’m Mistress Camille, Mistress Julie’s friend.”
That’s right. She’d been on the guest list, but Julie hadn’t been sure she’d actually come. Freddy assumed she must have just arrived because he would have definitely noticed her walking around earlier.
“I’m Freddy, I help run the front desk here and well, all sorts of other things.” Do not babble. Do not babble. Do not babble. He couldn’t remember the last time a Dominant had had this kind of effect on him.
Mistress Camille’s smile widened.
“So, I was told. I was hoping you could help me out with something.”
“Yes, of course.” Anything.
She leaned in, and he bent his head forward to make sure he’d be able to hear her, his heart thumping faster in his chest as she shifted closer to him so that they were almost touching.
“I don’t have anyone to kiss for New Year’s. Can you help me with that?”