Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Iris
“So, is he like your booooyfriend now?” Noelle drawled the word teasingly.
“Well, he’s definitely not a boy,” Iris smirked, moving around the kitchen in her comfiest shorts and tank top. “He’s all man.”
Noelle groaned and made a gagging noise.
They both dissolved into giggles. Having her friend back was such a huge relief, though Noelle’s expression twitched for the umpteenth time when Iris’ phone quacked.
She felt her own muscles tense. She probably should have turned it on silent since the group chat was still going strong.
Or maybe she should have changed the notification sound for the group chat. Part of her balked at having to make that change. She should be able to get texts from other friends without Noelle getting mad at her.
Noelle hefted a big sigh.
“Why don’t you invite them over?” Noelle asked. There was an edge to her voice, but she mostly sounded sincere.
“Invite who over?” Iris responded as if she didn’t know who Noelle was talking about. Obviously, she did, but her first response was to pretend otherwise.
Noelle rolled her eyes.
“Your friends who are texting you non-stop. Invite them over. We can all hang out, then you don’t have to keep bouncing back and forth between talking to me and texting to them.” Yup, there was a definite edge to Noelle’s voice. Still, it was a reasonable suggestion.
Yet… Iris didn’t want to. She didn’t want to introduce Noelle to the others.
Which was kind of… fucked up. She couldn’t articulate why, just a kind of general ‘I don’t wanna.
’ Maybe it was the edge to Noelle’s voice, maybe Noelle hadn’t been a fan of Iris’ other friends in the past. On the other hand, Noelle was trying.
Maybe Iris should try as well.
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“Of course, I’m sure, that’s why I suggested it. Text them. I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”
Blowing out her breath after Noelle left the room, Iris gave herself a little shake and texted the invite to the others. Who probably had better things to do.
As it turned out, they didn’t. Not even Avery, who would be working tonight but not this afternoon.
Woo-hoo! You can’t avoid dick-size questions in person!
Iris snorted. Watch me.
Though she thought it was funny that they were obsessed with finding out how big Law’s penis was, although it made sense.
There was a lot of casual nudity at Stronghold and plenty of exhibitionist fucking, but she had never seen him having sex.
She’d seen a few of his scenes before he’d been assigned as her Watch Dom, and none of them had ended in sex.
Something that she hadn’t considered until now.
Her scene with him had ended in sex.
It was totally possible he just didn’t have sex in public. Some club members preferred to keep things at home or behind the closed doors of the private rooms with the curtains drawn.
“So, are they coming over?” Noelle asked, coming back out of the bathroom.
“Yup, they’ll be here in about an hour.” Iris glanced at the clock. That would put their arrival time at around two. Maybe she should put out some snacks.
“Great. It’ll be nice to finally meet your friends.”
Was it Iris’ imagination, or had Noelle stressed ‘finally’? It sounded as though she had, but it wasn’t as if she’d wanted to meet them before. Given the fact they’d just made up, Iris decided to let it go. She might have imagined it, and even if she hadn’t, it wasn’t worth pursuing.
“So, how are things going with you and Tyler?” Iris asked, changing the subject.
“Ugh.” Noelle flopped down on the couch. “It’s hard to tell. He’s so hot and cold with me. One day he wants to hang out, then the next day, he wants nothing to do with me.” She made a face. “I’m pretty sure his friends are trying to break us up. I think they want him to date Laura.”
Iris wracked her brain, trying to remember what Noelle had told her about Tyler’s friends. Something seemed very wrong with that statement.
“Isn’t Laura engaged?”
“Yeah, but they don’t like her fiancé, either.” Noelle made a face. “He’s a douche, so I can’t blame them for that, but trying to break me and Tyler up so he can date Laura instead is fucked up.”
Yes, it would be if it was true, but it sounded a little far-fetched. On the other hand, weirder things had happened.
“I hope Law’s friends aren’t jerks to you.” Noelle shook her head, a scowl forming. “It’s the worst when their friends don’t like you. I wish he’d stop hanging out with them.”
Iris bit her tongue against advising Noelle to learn how to get along with Tyler’s friends since him ditching them completely didn’t seem likely.
He and Noelle had been dating for a while, and she’d been complaining about his friends long enough, if he was going to choose her over them, he probably would have already done it.
She wondered what Law was doing this afternoon.
He’d said he was having a relaxing day at home and possibly doing some work before going to Stronghold tonight for a shift as Dungeon Monitor.
The urge to text him made her fingers twitch, but she didn’t want Noelle to think she wasn’t paying attention.
It was her own darn fault for starting this line of questioning.
Law
While Connor and Asad were messing around with the grill, Law sidled up to Q.
“Olivia talked to Julie and me yesterday. You want to sign up for the submissive class?” He kept his voice low and neutral.
Being a switch was not something to be ashamed of, but not everyone wanted their private business bandied about where others could hear.
A lot of people struggled when they realized they had a submissive side and didn’t want other people to know at first. They’d find out eventually, but he wanted to let Q tell Asad and Connor, and anyone else at Stronghold, on his own terms, which meant not blurting it out where the other two could hear.
Q tensed, then relaxed, confirming Law had been right to approach him privately. He’d planned to do it at Stronghold, but it was even easier here since they only had Asad and Connor for company, and they were busy getting the BBQ ready that they’d promised.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I think you’re smart to explore both sides.
” Clearly surprised, Q jerked his head up, and his gaze met Law’s.
Law smiled at him, doing his best to convey his understanding.
“Kink is a spectrum, just like sexuality. There are some people who are ‘all’ one thing, but everyone else falls somewhere within the spectrum.” He grinned.
“It might surprise you to know I’ve enjoyed being tied up and restrained.
” Granted, that was about as far as it went since he didn’t enjoy punishment or anything like that.
A masochist, he was not.
Occasionally being restrained and letting someone else take the lead? He’d only done it a couple times, mostly with newer Dommes or switches, who were feeling adventurous, as long as they kept things sensual and not painful. That still left plenty of opportunities open.
“Really?”
“Really. There are also some people who go back and forth, with years between being one or the other. We use terms like Dom, sub, and switch to help us define what we are, but sometimes a label is just a box we put ourselves into. You don’t have to confine yourself to that box.
If you want to occasionally expand your box or step out of it entirely, then go back in, that’s what being a member at Stronghold is all about. ”
While there was such a thing as “one-true-way” kinksters who believed in very strict adherence to the boxes, Stronghold wasn’t like that, nor was Marquis.
Patrick, the owner of Stronghold, had wanted to create a place where people could be themselves, whatever that meant to them.
His two partners for Marquis were in total agreement.
Patrick had no problem tossing people out the door, something Law heartily approved of.
Q nodded thoughtfully, squaring his shoulders when he realized Law wasn’t judging him for his desire to explore the other side of things.
He still didn’t look as confident as he had at times during the Dominance class, but this was new territory for him.
A lot of men struggled with the idea of submitting, especially straight men.
Society raised them to be in charge, and that handing over control to someone else was a weakness.
“Yes… I want to explore. The Dominance class… I enjoyed a lot of the stuff we did on the submissive side, a lot more than others seemed to… especially when Mistress Julie was partnered with me. Sometimes, I feel like I fit with the Dom thing, and sometimes, I don’t. I know Zach is a switch…”
His voice trailed off, but Law knew exactly who he was talking about. Zach was a Dom and a wicked sadist, especially with women, but he was also submissive to his boyfriend. Q cleared his throat.
“I’m straight, though.”
Which was likely why he enjoyed having Mistress Julie as his partner.
“There are straight switches, too. That does bring up the point I wanted to talk to you about.” That got Q’s attention, and he turned his head to fully face Law for the first time, curiosity in his eyes. “Only one woman has signed up to be a dominant volunteer for the submissives class… Samantha.”
Q’s expression went blank, his eyes unfocused, and his mouth dropped open a bit. Leaning against the wooden bench that wrapped around part of Law’s back porch, Q let out a long breath of air.
“Fuck.”
“You don’t have to answer immediately, and Olivia is going to ask around to see if we can find another volunteer, but your other option would be to work with a male dominant.”
“Right.” Q closed his eyes, putting his hand up to his head, and groaned.
“Everything okay over there?” Asad called out. Looking up, Law scowled and waved his hand, gesturing for him to put his attention back on the grill. Sensing Law was serious, Asad turned around and said something to Connor, which made the other man chuckle.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Law asked, opening the door, but he would not make Q step through it unless he was ready.
“It was just high school bullshit.” Q scrubbed his hand over his face, his expression twisting into a grimace. “It shouldn’t even be a thing now.”
“High school bullshit… like playing pranks on each other?”
“No, that’s mostly new.” Was it Law’s imagination, or did Q’s lips twitch in a smile? “We were competitive, always competing for… well, just about everything. Top of the class, first seat in the clarinet section, president of the computer club, valedictorian.”
“Who won?” Law’s interest was piqued. Of all the scenarios he’d imagined, high school rivals for top of the class hadn’t been one of them. There had to be something more to the story.
“It was pretty evenly split.”
“And that’s it?” Since Q was already talking, he didn’t feel bad about trying to pry a little.
“Uh... well...” Q turned his head, no longer meeting his gaze. Law was beginning to interpret that as Q’s indication he wasn’t comfortable with what he was saying. “I asked her to prom, and she said yes, then the next day she told me she couldn’t go with me.”
“Did she say why?”
“No.” Q shrugged. “Didn’t really matter in the end. Made the competition for who was going to be valedictorian pretty fierce.” A little smile appeared on his lips. “I won that one.”
But he didn’t get the girl. Interesting.
“You know what?” Q sat up a little straighter. “I’m fine with it if she is. I’ve never backed out of a challenge with her, and I won’t now. If she doesn’t want to be paired with me, she can say so. I don’t have a problem with her as long as she keeps her post-it notes away from my car.”
“Uh-huh.” Law wasn’t sure exactly how this would go down, but it would probably be entertaining to watch.
Unfortunately, he had a feeling his friends felt the same way about him and Iris.