Chapter 16

Being on top definitely had perks. 

Luke had a lot of hard muscle but she was sure he was more comfortable to lay on top of than her desk. Yet he didn’t utter a single word of complaint, not even about the plug still inside of him. 

Letting go of his hands, she sighed happily as his arms crept up and around her, holding her. Fingers stroking her soft skin almost reverently. With the side of her face nestled against his shoulder, she ran her fingers through his chest hair, just enjoying the feel of him so close to her. It felt good. Right. 

There was still part of her which was unsure, mostly because she felt incredibly vulnerable in this moment. She’d been somewhat reassured by their argument—and she doubted he’d ever bring up her working at Marquis during a disagreement again—but if things went south it was really going to suck.

Then again, that was pretty much true about every relationship, wasn’t it? 

“What are you thinking about?” Luke asked, his hand drifting up to play with her hair. Olivia hummed with happiness as his fingers slid between the locks to massage her scalp.

“About how shitastic this could still be,” she admitted. “But I’m starting to think it’s worth the risk.”

His body rumbled underneath her as he chuckled. “If this is you starting to think it’s worth the risk, I’m almost a little afraid of what happens when you decide it definitely is.”

“No you’re not.”

“No,” he agreed. “Not really. I could definitely get used to this.”

“Even the plug?” she had to ask. 

“The plug’s not so bad.” 

Olivia pushed herself partially upright so she could see his face. He kept his hand in her hair, fingers still massaging, while his other caressed her side. With his eyes closed, he looked completely serene. Replete. Satisfaction slid through her. 

“What about when I get out the strap-on?” she teased. 

One blue eye opened to look at her. “If it’s what you want, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Despite his supposed nonchalance, she felt his body quiver, his softened cock jerking slightly inside of her. The movement actually made him slide out of her, but she’d still felt it. The idea of making him one day admit how much he loved being pegged by her held definite appeal. 

Unfortunately, their post-sex blissful reverie was interrupted by the sudden blaring of alarms, which had both of them cursing and practically falling off the desk as the loud shriek scared the crap out of both of them. 

It wasn’t the fire alarm either.

******

By the time Luke managed to remove the plug and get dressed Olivia was already out the door and about a minute ahead of him. She’d given him an apologetic look as she dashed out and he’d almost tried to call her back, but he’d ended up just attempting to move even faster. Which meant practically tripping over his jeans as he got them over his legs while skip-hopping to the door, putting on his shoes in the hall, and buttoning up his shirt as he rushed downstairs. The alarms turned off while he was moving, which meant someone downstairs had taken care of it—mostly likely Nick or Avery, which calmed him somewhat. 

Olivia wasn’t down there alone, and whoever was down there worked there—or else they wouldn’t have known the alarm code. 

Cold hit him as soon as he came practically careening into the main room of the restaurant. The fact that his brother didn’t look at all amused when he looked up and saw Luke with his shirt slightly askew because he’d missed a button, no socks, and obviously out of breath and rumpled, spoke to the seriousness of the situation. Nick’s face was drawn, tight with anger, as he stood next to Olivia, apparently ignoring the biting cold which was coming in through the broken window at the front of the restaurant.

Somehow Olivia managed to look completely cool, calm, and in charge, even though she must have his cum leaking into her underwear and she wasn’t wearing a bra under her shirt. She had managed to button hers correctly, even though she’d been practically flying while she’d been putting it on. Avery was standing close to the entrance to the kitchen, on the phone—it sounded like she was making a report. 

“What happened?” Luke demanded, striding forward to where Olivia and Nick were standing.

“The police say not to touch it!” Avery called to him, interrupting her own conversation for a brief moment.

Her expression blank, Olivia gestured to the item on the floor.

It was a large brick with a piece of paper tied to it. The way it had fallen had the paper facing the front of the restaurant and Luke walked around to see what it said. 

YOUR GONNA PAY CUNT

Luke’s face hardened as he took in the message. 

“Looks like this asshole knows where Marquis is now,” Nick said seriously. His eyes only lingered for a moment on Luke’s uneven buttoning situation before rising to meet Luke’s gaze. 

“Shit-gibbon,” Olivia murmured, almost absent-mindedly correcting him as she studied Luke’s hard expression. 

“What?” Nick blinked, looking taken aback.

Holding her hand to Luke, silently requesting him to step away from the window and come back to her, Olivia repeated the epithet a little louder. “Shit-gibbon. That’s what we’re calling this asshole.”

A smile almost made it on to his brother’s face. “He definitely has the spelling of one.”

“Really?” Luke asked sardonically as he took Olivia’s hand, which was already slightly chilled. He immediately reached for her other hand as well so he could cup them between his palms and warm them for her. “The incorrect ‘your’ is what you’re going to concentrate on?”

Nick shrugged.

“The police are on their way,” Avery called from across the room. “I’m going to wait in the kitchen where it’s warm. Does anyone want some tea?”

“Tea?” Nick asked, turning toward her with a disgusted look on his face. “Your first thought is for tea?”

“Tea is soothing,” Avery retorted. “It’s also warm.”

“I would actually love some tea,” Olivia said, gently reclaiming one of her hands and turning to move towards the kitchen. Towed along by her other hand, Luke shrugged at his fuming brother.

What? Tea did sound good.

Helping Avery score a hit on his younger brother was just a bonus.

******

Kincaid and the police arrived only a few minutes before Patrick and Lexie did. The uniforms were out front and with Nick in the security office, checking out the security footage, and Kincaid, Luke, Avery, and herself were sipping tea in the kitchen answering Kincaid’s questions when the big man came rushing in. One look at Patrick and it was clear he was full of fighting vim and vigor. 

She’d heard Hilary describe him that way once and was a really good description of when Patrick’s ire was super up. Sometimes the things Hilary said were just weird but they worked.

Especially when Olivia wanted to distract herself thinking about odd old sayings instead of the reality of her stalker. 

“How the hell did he know to find her here?” Patrick practically roared as soon as he caught sight of Kincaid. His dark eyes were sparking with protective fury and Olivia was pretty sure the hand he had curled around the back of Lexie’s neck was the only reason he wasn’t also pacing and possibly banging his fist as well. The hold he had on his submissive and girlfriend was gentle but firm and—for Patrick—was akin to a lifeline. 

Lexie’s big blue eyes were huge in her pale face, making her look even younger and more pixie-ish than usual. The fluffy white winter coat she was wearing made her black hair and blue eyes stand out brightly, but even against the stark backdrop she looked wane. Not to mention torn because her eyes were glued to Olivia but she was cuddled close to Patrick, obviously realizing her presence was the only thing keeping him from completely losing his shit.

When she took in the sight of Luke hovering next to Olivia, his arm around her with his hand resting on her hip while she sipped from the cup of tea he’d prepared for her, Lexie smiled just a little, a tiny bit of her usual sparkle making its way back into her eyes. Olivia gave her a Look, which just made her lips curve even more. 

There was no doubt, Lexie did love her gossip.

But then her face dropped again as she remembered the seriousness of the situation and the moment of levity was over. 

“If we knew that, we’d probably know who he is,” Kincaid said calmly, turning to face Patrick. To his credit, he only flinched a little when Patrick glared even harder at him. Looking a little worried, Lexie leaned against her boyfriend, distracting him. The moment he glanced down at her, he softened a little. Just a touch. 

Sometimes they were so fucking cute it was stupid.

“Maybe the shit-gibbon has been keeping closer tabs on me than we thought,” Olivia said dryly. “But if he has been, that’s no one’s fault but his.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” Patrick demanded, pointing a finger at her with his free hand, scowling. 

Honestly, yelling at Luke yesterday and then making up this morning with hot sex probably had a lot to do with it, but Olivia wasn’t going to admit to that. She just lifted her tea to her lips and sipped.

Calm. 

Cool.

Collected.

Lexie’s eyes narrowed at her. “You got laid!” she exclaimed, almost accusatory. 

Olivia almost snorted hot tea. Thankfully she ended up just choking a little, which still wasn’t exactly comfortable. Behind her, she could feel Luke shifting uncomfortably and she had to resist the urge to look and see if he was blushing. Off to the side, Nick snickered, earning an elbow in the side from Avery. Both Patrick and Kincaid looked amused, although Patrick still looked frustrated as well. 

“Ah ha!” Lexie jabbed her finger at Olivia, much in the same way Patrick had but with a lot more glee. “I knew it!”

“Pixie,” Patrick said, tightening his grip on her neck and tilting her head back to look at him. “Not the time.”

“Right.” Sighing, Lexie tipped her head back, using Patrick’s grip on her neck to support her while she rolled her muscles around. “Okay, so what can we actually do here to be useful instead of just ranting?”

She ignored the look Patrick gave her, which promised later retribution, and her comment immediately had the effect of lightening the mood for everyone. Even Patrick looked lighter; probably because now he had a punishment to plan. Nothing like giving a dominant a little control to make them happy.

“Well, we’re going to have everything we need soon,” Kincaid said. “I suggest getting the front window boarded up and then going somewhere else. Not home. Somewhere more secure. Or bring a big group of people home with you and don’t go anywhere alone today. Obviously this guy is escalating. He may have just gotten lucky today, found out about Marquis somehow, I don’t know. But I don’t want you taking any risks.”

“Got it,” Olivia said dryly. Sure it irked her a little bit to have one of her Baby Doms bossing her around, but this was Kincaid’s area of expertise and everything he said made sense.

“You can come to my place if you want,” Luke said, looking down at her, his fingers giving her hip a little caress. “I have a great security system, plus Molly is a security system on her own when it comes to making noise any time someone approaches the house.”

“And I do need to meet Molly,” Olivia said, smiling. Hopefully the dog liked her. She’d always been more of a cat person. Was it weird to feel nervous about meeting a man’s dog? 

“Oooo can I come?” Lexie asked. They both looked at her as Patrick sighed. She pouted. “What? Molly slept over at our apartment and I barely got to see her. Besides, more eyes aren’t a bad thing. In fact, I’d be surprised if you managed to keep everyone else away.”

“She’s got a point,” Patrick admitted, looking a bit sheepish. 

Olivia groaned. “Exactly how many people did you two already tell?”

“Hey, now, Michael got the alarm notification too,” Patrick said. “It’s not just our fault.”

Ugh. Olivia was so glad she’d left her phone up in her office. It was probably blowing up right now. 

“Just out of curiosity, has anyone talked to Zach about Roland?” Lexie asked, looking at Kincaid. “I mean, Zach’s nice enough since the douchebag left the club, but…”

“It was one of the first things I did,” Kincaid said, a little defensively. “Trust me, they’re not friends anymore. After Zach stayed in the class when Roland got kicked out, Roland called him a traitor and completely wrote him off. They haven’t talked since.” Olivia knew Kincaid and Zach had become pretty good friends, so she trusted him to know. 

Lexie sighed. “Worth a try.”

“I’ve gotta go see what’s happening out front,” Kincaid said, giving her a sympathetic smile and then turning his attention to everyone else. He tucked the notepad and pen he’d been holding into his pocket. “Stay safe, everyone.”

******

After the cops left all six of them pitched in to cover up the big window with a plastic sheet from one of the storage rooms and clean up the broken glass on the floor.

“Do I even want to know what else this might be used for?” Avery muttered under her breath as she pressed the tape firmly down against the edge of the plastic. Luke choked back a laugh—and not just because of the dirty look Nick shot her.

“It could just be tape and plastic,” Nick pointed out loftily. “Not everything has to be dirty.”

Avery snorted. “Yeah, not like there’s a sex club upstairs or anything.”

When Lexie giggled the two seemed to remember they had an audience. Avery flushed red and finished taping down the plastic so Luke could step away. 

The plastic covered the window and provided a tiny bit of insulation, but it was still freaking freezing in the room and they all disbanded as quickly as they could. Luke asked Olivia if he could drive her to her apartment and then back to his house so she didn’t have to take her car—since they knew the stalker knew what her car looked like. To his relief, she said yes and even seemed a little pleased with him. He hadn’t been sure if he might be over stepping his bounds. 

Olivia promised to text Patrick and Lexie when they were on their way to Luke’s. 

He truly didn’t mind having an impromptu gathering of her friends, especially since it did seem like she wanted them there.

Granted, it would have been nice to be able to go back to cuddling and having her all to himself… but they’d all want to see for themselves she was okay. Which he completely understood. Plus, Lexie had been right. The more eyes and bodies present, the less likely it was Olivia would be targeted right now. So far the shit-gibbon had been very wary about doing anything too publicly. 

They wouldn’t be able to keep a constant presence on her forever, but for tonight at least she’d be able to get peace of mind.

It didn’t take her long to pick out what she wanted to bring and then they were back in his car and headed to his place.

“I’m sorry our date kind of got co-opted,” she said with a rueful smile. 

Luke blinked and then glanced at her sheepishly. “Actually, with everything going on I kind of even forgot we had one.”

She laughed. “Well then I don’t feel quite as bad,” she teased. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything at all.”

“I would have remembered eventually,” he argued playfully, reaching out with his right hand to take hers. She immediately wound her fingers through his, her thumb rubbing gently against the outside of his hand. “And it’s okay. There was no way to anticipate this happening, and I think it’ll be good for everyone to get together. Otherwise they’d just be texting you constantly anyway.”

He chuckled as she winced. After sending out a mass text, she’d turned her phone off because it had been buzzing almost nonstop. Having a lot of friends was great. Having a lot of friends who were all freaking out and trying to contact you at the exact same time was a little overwhelming. 

By the time they arrived, Patrick and Lexie were already there, courteously parked on Luke’s street rather than in his driveway so they weren’t blocking it. Which he appreciated.

Pulling into the garage, he could already hear Molly barking as Patrick and Lexie walked into the garage behind his car. Both of them were carrying small bags slung over their shoulders. The one gently bumping against Lexie’s hip was making suspicious clinking noises as she walked and he was pretty sure it didn’t have any clothes in it.

“Everyone’s on their way,” Lexie said cheerfully. 

“Everyone?” Olivia asked, sounding a little startled. 

“Everyone,” Patrick confirmed. “I thought Adam and Angel would at least stay away, but she responded they were coming right after he texted that they weren’t, and then a few minutes later he texted that they were.”

The grin on Lexie’s face was repeated on Luke and Olivia’s. He’d probably spent the least amount of time with Angel out of everyone in the group of friends, but every time with her had always been entertaining. She seemed to make it her life’s goal to constantly annoy her husband and Dom, while he tolerated it. Although he’d been told normally he just tolerated it right up until he didn’t and that’s when she’d get a spanking, but she’d been pretty heavily pregnant ever since he’d known her and (obviously) only become more so. He’d only heard the stories about her being dragged off for a hot and heavy punishment, not actually seen it. However, with her sassy mouth and Adam’s intimidating scowl it wasn’t hard to imagine.

As Molly’s barking become more frantic—probably because she could hear their voices but hadn’t seen any of them yet—Luke turned. “I’m coming, I’m coming. Impatient dog.”

She whined as he approached the garage door and let out an excited yelp when he opened it. One quick rub against his legs and then she shot past him, quickly sniffing everyone before scampering back to him. 

Chuckling, he crouched down to give her ears a good rub while she licked his face. “Ugh… Molly… love me with less tongue, please.”

Another whine accompanied by a lot of wriggling and then she dashed behind him to check out Olivia who looked… nervous? Was she scared of dogs?

******

Please don’t hate me, please don’t hate me… Olivia held out her hand for the gorgeous chocolate brown dog to sniff. She was beautiful, with floppy ears and silky looking fur, and was an absolute bundle of energy. Obviously she and Luke had a pretty great bond. 

It seemed as though Olivia’s worries were unwarranted however. Rather than sniffing her hand, Molly shoved her head underneath Olivia’s fingers, her tail wagging in excitement, happy little whines pouring forth from her as she tried to entice Olivia into petting her. Chuckling, Olivia happily gave her a scratch. 

Unbelievably, because she really thought the dog’s tail couldn’t possibly move any faster, Molly managed to wag even harder as Lexie came up beside Olivia, crooning about what a pretty girl she was. 

“Isn’t she precious?” asked Lexie.

“Yes,” Olivia admitted, smiling at the happy pup. Okay, so she was more of a cat person, but there were always exceptions. Molly was sweet, friendly, and obviously well-behaved. For all she’d tried to smother Luke with her love, she wasn’t quite as exuberant towards Olivia or Lexie although her body shuddered with the desire to jump all over them with doggy-kisses. 

Looking up, she caught Luke’s expression as he smiled approvingly, watching the three of them.

“Alright, can we go pet the dog inside the house?” Patrick asked, sounding exasperated. Despite his tone, as soon as he had put his bag down in Luke’s kitchen—which was just past the mud room Luke’s garage opened into—he was down on his knees with his arms full of wiggling, ecstatic dog. 

“They’ve already seen the house, but let me give you the tour,” Luke said, grinning. He held out his hand and Olivia took it, not unhappy to leave Lexie and Patrick in the kitchen cooing over Molly while she got to explore Luke’s house with him on their own before everyone else showed up. 

The kitchen led into the two different rooms, the living room and a formal dining room with a rather battered looking table—covered in paperwork—and set of chairs in it.

“Basically my home office,” Luke said dryly, just letting her peek in before pulling her away and into the rectangular living room. There was a big leather couch that took up about a fourth of the room even though it was pressed up against the wall. Across from it was a large television, and a couple of armchairs on the same side of the room as the TV provided extra seating but no way to see the screen. 

Down the hall there was a front room that Olivia could basically tell was a play area for Molly. There was a Christmas tree set up so it could be seen out the front window, and covered with lights and red and green ball ornaments. However, the room was definitely dedicated to the dog. Her lips twitched as she took in the doggy toys strewn all over it, as well as a doggy bed that looked so comfortable she was tempted to curl up on top of it, and it was the first room she’d seen with any pictures. Mostly of Molly with people. Luke shrugged when Olivia lifted an eyebrow at him. 

“I’m pretty sure I know who runs this house,” she teased him.

“I wish I could say you were wrong.”

Upstairs there were guest bedrooms and, funny enough, a home office which looked like it was barely used—unlike his table downstairs. Luke claimed he just worked better downstairs, but that didn’t quell Olivia’s amusement. His bedroom consisted of a massive king-size bed and several rows of bookshelves. 

None of them had books on them. 

They were covered in Star Wars action figures, collectibles, and what looked like a signed photo of Luke with Mark Hamill. Two lightsabers were hanging on display on the wall to the right of the bookshelves—one blue and one red. Olivia’s jaw dropped.

“So, uh…” Luke started to say. 

“Oh my God, you’re a hidden nerd.”

“Uh. Yes.” He leaned against his door frame, hands in his pockets, as she started inspecting his collection. There had been nothing else anywhere in the house to indicate this hidden geek side of him and Olivia was fascinated. “It’s mostly Star Wars focused though. My brother and I were obsessed as kids. He always took the action figures out of their packaging though. I was the collector and I just never… stopped. Now it’s just my thing.”

“I can’t believe you never said anything. You realize as soon as Angel and Kate know you’re a big nerd, they’re going to try and drag you into their debates.” The two of them would get into the most ridiculous arguments, which everyone else mostly tried to ignore. 

“They seem more into Harry Potter and Doctor Who,” he pointed out.

Olivia chuckled as she moved back towards him, smiling slightly as he stood there waiting for her, his head cocked, eyes slightly alight with anticipation. “You keep telling yourself that will save you.”

Coming to a halt in front of him, so close there was barely a millimeter of space between their bodies, Olivia reached up to slide her hands into his hair and pull him down for a kiss. 

Unfortunately they’d barely gotten started when the doorbell rang. Sighing, Olivia pulled away, enjoying the now slightly rumpled state of Luke’s hair. She’d become rather fond of messing up his hair. 

“Time to go face the horde,” she said ruefully.