Chapter 19

Coming out of the women’s locker room at Stronghold, Olivia looked around but didn’t see Luke yet.

The club looked amazing for the holidays. Not just because Patrick and Lexie had gone all out this year (really Lexie had gone all out, but only because Patrick had let her) but because so had the members. They’d loved the themed nights Lexie had pushed Patrick to introduce from the very beginning, but tonight it seemed like every single person attending the party was participating.

She saw tons of green and red with a few smatterings of blue and white, but even those fit in. Leigh was one of the ones in white, sitting on Jared’s lap at one of the bar tables. Appropriately enough, he was dressed in a holiday sweater meant to resemble a tree with soft ‘decorations’ all over it, while Leigh was dressed as a sexy Angel Christmas tree topper. Adam was a rather resigned looking Santa Claus, watching over his ornament wife. Yup, Angel had gone for full on décor—she was basically wearing a gold bikini with sarong wrapped around her hips and had used body paint to turn her massively pregnant belly into a big red ornament complete with gold wiggling lines across it. Her stomach would fit right in on the massive Christmas tree Patrick had in the center of the stage.

Olivia smiled when she saw Rick and Maria, wrapped around each other at the bar as they waited for their drinks, smiling and talking with Jessica, Justin, and Chris. They seemed even more relaxed and happy than the last time she’d seen them. Although she doubted their grieving was completely over, it looked as though they might be through the worst, and she was glad of it. 

The sound of the door to the men’s locker room had her turning her head, and as she’d hoped, Luke was the man exiting from it. He looked like the kinkiest, sexiest, grumpiest reindeer in the North Pole.

The leather harness strapped across his chest was brown, as were the boxers he was wearing. The antlers on his head were a matching brown, and she was pretty sure they were also the source of his current displeasure. Olivia grinned at his unamused expression, which softened as he took in her own outfit. She was wearing an extremely sexy Mrs. Claus outfit—basically a little red dress with a fluffy skirt. It was trimmed across the neckline and around the hem with white fur, and a matching bolero jacket—and the thigh-high black boots she knew he had a special liking for.

“You look good,” she said, crooking her finger at him. When he came close enough, she slid her fingers under the ring in the center of the harness and pulled her to him a little faster, setting him just a little off balance. His blue eyes lit up with appreciation—and challenge.

“You look good too, Scarlet,” he said almost mischievously, his hands coming up to rest on her waist.

Olivia smacked them away with her free hand, making his smile grow larger.

“Don’t make me put you on the naughty list,” she warned, only half-serious. She liked that he didn’t always make things easy. How he always wanted to push and be pressed back into line.

“Do people on the naughty list have to wear reindeer antlers?” he asked, turning back to being a little grumpy as she turned and began to lead him towards their friends, her fingers still curved into the harness ring.

“Just be glad I didn’t put you in a tail,” she said, winking impishly.

******

A tail?

Luke suppressed the urge to reach back and cover his ass. He might like the plugs, but pony and pet play was definitely not his thing. Although, he had to admit he’d seen some cute ‘bunnies’, ‘kittens’, and ‘puppies’ in the club before—even a ‘fox’ once which had been intriguing. But not something he wanted to do himself.

Looking around he could see he wasn’t the only reindeer, which made him feel a little better. In fact, it looked like everyone had gone all out with their outfits for the party. When he saw Angel’s outrageous portrayal of a Christmas tree ornament, he couldn’t help but snort a laugh.

It was hard to feel too awkward about what he was wearing when he was more covered up than quite a few of the club members—and downright unoriginal at that. As Olivia led him across the floor, he saw quite a few other reindeer, elves, Santas of both sexes, angels, and a few people who were just dressed (or not) for the theme. One woman was wearing nothing but actual Christmas ornaments hanging from her nipple rings. Compared to her, he looked downright modest.

And Olivia looked fucking amazing. Luke definitely didn’t mind being her reindeer. The red dress she was wearing dipped low in front, showing off a lot of creamy cleavage but covering up even more of it with the white, furry trim. The jacket she was wearing covered her arms and upper back but nothing else. A thick black belt around her waist made it look impossibly tiny, especially with the way her skirt flared out. Luke couldn’t help but wonder if she planned on using that belt on him later.

The piece de resistance, however, were obviously the boots. The same boots she’d worn to the second submissive class. The same boots he already had a myriad of fantasies about.

“Hey, Luke, Olivia,” Patrick’s voice coming from his office slowed their pace as they looked over. The big man was standing in the doorway to his office, dressed in Santa pants and boots with a Santa coat that was hanging open in the front and had the sleeves ripped off. He was even wearing a Santa hat.

But at least he still got to be Santa, Luke thought a little glumly, trying not to think about the reindeer antler headband as it bobbled slightly on his head.

Patrick waved them over and Olivia’s fingers slid out of Luke’s harness. He caught her hand as it dropped down to her side; she gave him a brief look but didn’t pull away. Luke was pretty sure she was dropping into work mode, but he didn’t want her to go all the way there if she didn’t have to. Fortunately, hand holding was innocuous enough she didn’t seem bothered.

Gesturing them to enter, Patrick stood aside and held the door open for them. Michael and Ellie were already in there, standing in front of Patrick’s desk and looking just as bemused as Olivia and Luke were. Lexie, however, was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Lexie?” Olivia asked, her brow wrinkling as Patrick closed the door behind them and locked it. Somehow, despite his size and aura of authority, he managed to look like a naughty little boy.

“I accidentally-on-purpose forgot the cookies at home today so I could send her back for them and talk to you all once you got here,” Patrick said, looking oddly excited as he hurried over to his desk. Yanking open the top drawer, he pulled out a small, gray, velvet box.

Ellie immediately gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in happy excitement, and even Olivia made a little noise of surprise and delight. His face practically splitting open he was grinning so hard, Patrick held it up.

“Yes, it’s what you think it is. If none of you have any objections, I’d like to use Marquis’ opening to propose to Lexie.”

Immediately Michael, Luke, and Olivia piled on with reassurances that they thought Marquis’ opening on New Years’ Eve would be the perfect place for him to pop the question. Ellie bounced up and down, practically squeeing with excitement and doing a little happy dance in place as her own boyfriend looked at her with shining eyes.

Luke slid his arm around Olivia’s waist, grinning. Romance was in the air. No, he and Olivia weren’t there yet, but at his age… well, he wasn’t going to get seriously involved with a woman if he didn’t see the possibility of it. And he sure as hell wouldn’t have let a woman do all the things Olivia had to him if he wasn’t pretty sure she was what he wanted for the rest of his life.

“How are you going to do it?” Olivia asked. Even though she wasn’t dancing around like Ellie, her cheeks were flushed with happy excitement and it was obvious she was thrilled for both of them. She glanced up at Luke as his fingers caressed her hip, grinning widely, her silver eyes dancing.

“Well… I’m going to leave the details a surprise for everyone, but I know I want to do it during our scene,” Patrick said, putting the ring box away without showing off the ring, much to everyone’s obvious disappointment. He chuckled at the noises they all made as he did so. “Lexie gets to see the ring first, people. And don’t tell the others about this. I’m only telling you all since we’re going to be running the opening night.”

“What can we do to help?” Michael asked.

“I was thinking—ah, damn it!” They all turned to look where Patrick’s eyes had gone—at the security cameras in the parking lot where Lexie’s car had just turned into a spot. “How did she get back here so quickly?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go stall her for just a minute,” Olivia said, volunteering. “Tell them what you need and we can talk just the two of us later.”

“Not by yourself,” Luke said, frowning down at her. Immediately, Olivia gave him a Look, her eyes practically shooting daggers. Ouch. Maybe that was what Andrew had meant by ‘the mean look.’

“I make the most sense,” she said, a little frostily. “You or Ellie would have to run and get shoes and clothes, Patrick can’t stall her, and Michael’s not wearing a shirt—he’ll freeze. I’m wearing boots, a dress, and have sleeves. But I need to go right now.”

On the security camera screens, Lexie was already getting out of the car.

“But…” Luke gritted his teeth. He didn’t like the idea of Olivia going out alone, but she was right. The rest of them would freeze. The parking lot was full of cameras with people arriving fairly frequently and Lexie would be there. He glanced at Patrick.

“We can probably talk about this later…” But Patrick sounded hesitant, as he should. There was only a week until Marquis opened, a lot to be done, and Lexie was often glued to his side. This really had been a fairly opportune time to get all club owners and their manager in the room together without her there.

Besides, the club was hopping. It was the holiday party after all; people had been coming and going all night and all of them were just inside.

“I’ll be right back,” Olivia said brusquely, pulling away from Luke and stalking to the door which led to the lobby. She moved quickly, with her head held high and not looking back.

“I only need a minute or two!” Patrick called after her, before turning back to the others and looking sympathetically at Luke. “Sorry.”

“I get it,” Luke said, waving his hand. “What do you need from us? We better make this quick, because she’s really not going to be able to slow Lexie for more than a couple minutes.”

They could see Lexie on the screen, getting what Luke presumed were the holiday cookies out of the back of her car. As she pulled out the rather large box, Olivia came on screen.

“Here,” Patrick said, pulling out a folder with a sheet of paper. “We’ve got the performance schedule for the evening.” With Michael and Ellie, Luke leaned over as Patrick quickly started to speak about how he wanted to propose.

******

Fuck it was cold. Olivia’s heels clacked on the ground as she hurried across the parking lot—which was thankfully free of any wet spots since they would have definitely turned to ice by now.

“Hey hun!” she called out as she saw Lexie straightening up, a large box cradled in her arms. “Do you need any help?”

“Olivia?” Lexie asked, lowering the box enough to peer over it. It was both wide and tall, although apparently not too heavy or Patrick would have never sent his girlfriend back for it.

“Geez, how many cookies are in this thing?” Olivia asked as she reached her, her hands automatically going to take it from the more petite woman.

“Enough for the whole club,” Lexie said with a sigh.

Before Olivia could actually get her hands on the box, another voice saying her name—a man’s voice—had her spinning as her heart kicked up with adrenaline-filled anger, tinged with just a touch of fear.

“Olivia?” His voice was low, guttural and full of anger. Roland glared at her with bloodshot eyes. Even though he had a black ski mask over his head and was wearing a bulky black coat which had probably helped hide him blend into the shadows, she knew it was him. His hands were shoved inside his pockets and he looked like he was shivering, despite the size of the coat.

Which meant he’d probably been out here a while. Waiting.

Instinctively she moved in front of Lexie, her arms spread slightly.

“Who is that?” Lexie asked from behind her. Olivia ignored her, totally focused on the threat in front of her.

“So good to see you again, Roland,” Olivia said coldly, hearing Lexie suck in a shocked breath. “I’m so glad you’re here. We’ve been looking for you.”

“Have you?” he sneered, his right hand sliding out of his pocket, and for the first time Olivia’s fear outweighed her anger as she saw the gun he was holding. “Funny, because I’ve been looking for you too. But you’re never alone, are you?”

“Put the gun away, Roland,” she said, trying to remain calm even though it felt like her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. Lexie gasped, the cardboard box she was holding creaking slightly as she tightened her grip on it in fear.

Fuck, fuck, fuck… were Patrick and the others even looking at the security cameras? Or were they too busy trying to talk quickly before she and Lexie came in?

Was she seriously going to die in a sexy Mrs. Claus outfit? It was a stupid thought, a stupid concern, and yet once it popped up in her head she couldn’t get it out. Olivia didn’t want to die in a sexy Mrs. Claus outfit. She didn’t want to die at all, but especially not wearing this. Except maybe the boots. Because Luke liked the boots.

“You should run now,” Lexie said, her voice high and tight. “You’re going to get your ass kicked.” If Olivia could turn around, if she could have turned her back on Roland, she would have fixed Lexie with a searing look. She realized the younger woman was frightened and trying to fight it, but prodding the strung-out asshole was not going to help.

“Run?” Roland snorted. “You dumb bitch, I’m the one with the gun! And you two… you fucking kicked me out of class and ruined me… and you…” His focus on Olivia wavered for just a moment as he looked behind her. “You’re with that other dumb fuck who ruined me…”

“Put the gun away and leave, Roland,” Olivia said, her voice surprisingly steady as she continued to use herself as a human shield for Lexie. The only thing she could think of which would be worse than dying right here and now, would be having to watch Lexie die first. If she could just keep Roland talking, if she could just keep Lexie safe, surely someone had to look at the security camera and call the cops. “There are cameras up all over this parking lot and this area is clearly visible on them.”

“That’s what the mask is for, you stupid cunt!”

“Hey Roland, there’s audio too Roland,” Lexie shouted loudly. “So even if you shoot us, everyone will still know it was you, Roland.”

“Shut up! Shut up, shut up!”

For a second Olivia thought Lexie had just pushed him into shooting them immediately, but what she’d said seemed to have gotten through to him. Even if it was a flat-out lie, it looked like it might save their lives.

Then, suddenly, the door to Stronghold burst open and shouting filled the air, and it was like suddenly everything was happening in horrific slow motion.

Luke was first out the door, bare-chested and bare-footed, with Patrick practically riding his back, Michael and Will—tonight’s inner door guard—right behind them. Roland began to spin towards them, the gun pointing right at Luke, and Olivia screamed as she launched herself forward without thinking.

She hit Roland’s body with the entire weight of hers, and she felt the recoil of the gun as it went off.

Heard the masculine scream of pain.

Saw Luke jerk as bright red blood suddenly sprayed… and he fell.

Her heart broke even as a red-filmed rage nearly obscured her vision.

The gun clattered on the ground as she and Roland went down together.

Time resumed its normal pace as Olivia let out a shriek of fury, landing hard on top of Roland. Her arm swung back and slammed forward, and his head snapped as she plowed her fist into his nose. She both heard and felt the sharp crack as his nose broke. He wheezed out a sound like a wounded animal.

For good measure, she did it again, this time getting his eye.

And again, his jaw.

“OLIVIA!” Patrick bellowed at her. “Luke needs you!”

Sense overtook emotion.

Luke!

She still managed to knee Roland in the balls as she shoved away from him, leaving him whimpering, curled up in a little ball, nose bleeding onto the concrete. Will and Michael had almost reached her, both of their faces grim, ready to take over handling the shit-gibbon. Olivia rushed past them to where Patrick and Lexie were both leaning over Luke’s prone form.

As she approached, she heard him groan.

“That fucking stings,” he said, reaching up to try and touch his shoulder. Lexie slapped his hand back down so he couldn’t touch the bloody mess as Olivia knelt down and grabbed the hand Lexie had just slapped away.

“It stings?” she asked, furious all over again as she looked at his shoulder.

******

“A lot?” he added on, feeling oddly uncertain as Olivia glared at him.

Luke badly wanted to touch his shoulder and actually see how bad it was. He had heard the gunshot, felt the sudden burning pain, and ended up falling instead of ducking the way he’d meant to. Hit his head when he went down too, which actually hurt worse than his shoulder in some ways. Trying to turn his head to see the wound hurt even more, as well as making him dizzy.

“I think it’s just a graze,” Patrick pronounced a moment later. “I don’t see an entry or exit wound, but we can have Jake look at it inside until the paramedics get here.”

“Just a graze?” Olivia echoed, her grip tight on Luke’s hand. She looked between the two of them. “Just a graze?” For a moment she slumped, her face full of relief, before straightening and glaring at Patrick. “I thought he was about to die! And then you said he needed me!”

“I did need you,” Luke murmured, regaining her attention.

Her expression softened as she looked down at him, and then hardened again. Her hand smacked the side of his chest which didn’t have any blood on it. “Don’t you ever go running at a man with a gun ever again!”

“Don’t make it necessary again, ma’am,” he said, giving her a stern look of his own. Olivia scowled back at him. “Um… do you think I could get up? I’m starting to feel really fucking cold.”

Funny how that had worked. He actually hadn’t felt the cold so much until just now, as his adrenaline finally started to wear off. Of course, now that it had he was very aware of how cold the ground was, how frigid the air was, and how uncomfortable the pavement he was lying on was.

As Olivia and Patrick helped him up and began walking him back toward Stronghold, she whispered in his ear.

“As soon as you’re feeling better, I’m going to hurt you so bad. Never, ever again do anything like that. I thought you all would call the police, not come running out here!”

“We did both,” he muttered. “Ellie’s called the cops and she was going to go get Kincaid.”

As if saying his name had summoned him, the door to Stronghold flew open once again and Kincaid came storming out.

Things moved pretty quickly after that.

Roland was arrested, the gun collected as evidence, and he left with the paramedics, Kincaid, and two uniformed cops to be treated before he could be taken in. Olivia had broken his nose and cracked his cheekbone when she’d pummeled him. The paramedics said they suspected testicular torsion after he’d started throwing up and from the way he wasn’t able to uncurl from the fetal position without help. The paramedic didn’t sound particularly upset as he confided that such an injury would likely need surgery to fix.

Since the cameras showed everything pretty clearly the police agreed it was self-defense, but suggested they keep the tape just in case Roland tried to claim assault. Not that he’d have a leg to stand on. Especially since his worst injury had come when Olivia had kneed Roland in the balls it actually looked like she had just unintentionally slammed him in the crotch when she’d been rushing to get up and get to Luke. The other three blows could be explained as making sure the man threatening them all with a gun had stayed down.

After cleaning Luke’s shoulder, the paramedics bandaged up the groove in his flesh (it had actually created a bloody trench across his shoulder, which Luke found fascinating). They gave him some pain killers, reminded him to get a tetanus booster if he needed one, and told him to move it as little as possible for the next few days while keeping the area dry and the bandages clean. If he wanted stitches he could go to the hospital and get them, but Luke wasn’t particularly interested. Olivia had been much less fascinated with the wound and much more infuriated, muttering more dire threats under her breath. He wasn’t actually sure whether they’d been directed at him or Roland either.

Patrick sent Luke and Olivia home, with Olivia driving Luke’s car.

An hour later, Kincaid called to tell them Roland had confessed to everything—granted he’d done so while ranting about what Olivia ‘deserved,’ but it still counted. They’d even found out how he’d been following her. When he’d keyed her car he’d also attached a low-tech but perfectly usable tracker to the underside of her car. He’d just gotten lucky about his positioning when he’d attached it, and it wasn’t immediately distinguishable from just fumbling around while he was scratching his message into the paint unless you knew what you were looking for.

So that solved the mystery of how he’d known where she was, but not always. Any time she’d been in Luke’s or someone else’s car, Roland had been left in the dark. Tonight had apparently been the first time he’d been able to approach her and he’d jumped at the chance, to his own detriment.

When they pulled into Luke’s driveway, Nick’s car was already there. Olivia had made Luke text his brother when they were still at Stronghold, to let him know what had happened.

So he had two nursemaids fluttering over him while Molly swirled around all of their legs, trying to earn their love and attention.

“It’s just a flesh wound,” he muttered for the umpteenth time when Nick wouldn’t even let him get up to go get his own glass of water.

“Shut up, Monty Python,” Nick retorted.

“I wasn’t even quoting Monty Python!” Luke said, starting to throw up his hands in exasperation, and then wincing as his injured shoulder muscle twinged painfully at the movement. “Ouch.”

“Stop moving!” Olivia ordered, her voice strained as she immediately pulled his shirt open again to check on the bandage. Which was fine.

Sighing, Luke just leaned back and accepted their ministrations. He gave up. It was just easier.