Chapter 6

Two men rushed in at her from both sides. Olivia neatly sidestepped and executed a perfect front kick sweep on the blond, spinning around to face the darker haired man. Unfortunately she wasn’t quite fast enough and he managed to grab her in a bear hug, pinning down her arms. She elbowed him hard in the gut, once, twice, three, four times working her arm higher each time as he grunted, his grip loosening until she could turn and knee him, grazing the plastic cup over his balls.

The blond grabbed at her leg and she stomped on his arm, pulling back hard on a vicious kick to the face before turning back to the darker haired man who was standing in neutral.

He grinned at her. “You are one mean lady.”

Olivia grinned back at him. “Worried about getting hurt, Dan?”

“Hell yes.” He winced slightly putting a protective hand over his cup. “You know it still hurts even when I’m wearing a cup, right?”

“Well that should teach you to move faster,” she said with a wink. 

Although it wasn’t entirely his fault. Krav Maga was for self-defense not attacking. It was brutally effective but only to be used as a last resort. Olivia loved it.

She could go to the unofficial guys’ nights at Liam’s Kung-Fu dojo if she wanted to, but she’d been studying Krav Maga for years and she found it suited her down to the ground. This was where she came to blow off steam. Something she’d sorely needed at the end of this week.

At least she had a two day break before seeing Luke again. Before having to watch another Domme take over his instruction in the class. Since she’d been missing her Wednesday Krav Maga classes in order to help out with Angel’s self-defense classes, she’d decided to make up for it by coming tonight. Plus it helped her get some energy out. Tomorrow she’d be out with the other women, doing ladies’ night out.

Yeah, she was glad of the excuse not to be at Stronghold. Luke might not be there either, but Olivia really didn’t feel like playing with any other submissives right now, she also didn’t feel like dealing with her friends’ exchanging knowing looks or dropping leading hints. They were already having plenty of fun encouraging Luke, she didn’t need to offer herself up to provide more entertainment for them. 

Finishing up the Krav Maga class, she was dripping with sweat, her muscles were sore, she had a few new bruises, and she felt rather at peace with the world.

So what if she was attracted to Luke? 

She could handle passing him off to Lisa. It was better this way anyway.

Just because he had a cute butt, a nicely sized dick, and a cocky smile that made her want to tie him down and ride him into oblivion didn’t mean anything in the long run. Eventually her friends would get tired of being nosy and trying to push them together.

They’d quit it a lot sooner if you actually told them to stop.

Olivia ignored the little voice inside of her head, just like she ignored the part of her which liked Luke’s pursuit. Equal opportunity ignoring of both sides.

******

Stronghold was full of people but it felt empty without Olivia’s presence. Especially since he was surrounded by couples.

Although, at least Jake was there too.

In the group of friends Luke had begun making at Stronghold, Jake was the only other single guy—he seemed to have some kind of weird angry love-hate chemistry going on with the only single girl, Sharon, but since they weren’t actually together Luke counted Jake as single. Besides, Luke had his own weird chemistry not-actually-together thing going on with Olivia.

At least, he hoped he did.

Gathered around the bar table Luke and Jake were sitting at were Sharon, Andrew and his fiancé Kate, Michael and Ellie, and one of the two married couples in the group, Liam and Hilary. Patrick was in his office with Lexie, as usual. Adam, Angel, Jared, and Leigh were apparently out on a double date, and Rick and Maria weren’t coming in tonight. Out of the whole group, Luke knew them the least as they hadn’t been around much—not entirely unusual according to the rest of the group since they rarely played at the club and Maria had a large family she was also very close with. The most unusual relationship in the group—Justin, Chris, and their shared fiancé, Jessica—were down in the Dungeon making use of one of the St. Andrew’s Crosses. 

Luke was still getting used to the whole occasionally seeing his new friends naked or having sex, but he had to admit—it was not a turn off. It wasn’t always a turn on either, but he’d never been repulsed, even if he might feel a little awkward later talking to one of the ladies after having stared at her breasts. Or lower.

He was always the most amused by Jake and Lexie. Being brother and sister, things were even more awkward for them than anyone else, even though Jake never ventured away from Stronghold’s main floor and Lexie always wore one of Patrick’s large shirts to cover her body when Jake came in. They both pretended they weren’t at a sex club and Lexie wasn’t naked underneath the shirt.

“Luke?” 

Jerking his head back around to the right at his name, he smiled in apology at Hilary who had obviously just asked him something. He’d been so deep in his own thoughts he hadn’t been paying attention at all. 

“Sorry, what was that?” he asked.

Her blue eyes sparkled with mirth. Leaning up against her redheaded husband, Hilary was a pretty woman with honey-blonde hair, a sweet smile, and a definite preference for the color pink. While the outfits she wore to the club definitely fit in stylistically, she was usually the brightest color in the room.

“I was just wondering how your first week of classes was going,” she said. “No desire to run screaming into the night yet?”

He chuckled. “Not yet. So far they’re going pretty good.”

“I love the idea of classes,” she said, leaning against her husband, who looked a little bemused by her statement. “With me, I had to gather the courage to jump into a full on scene right away. I was always kind of jealous of Jessica, getting to go to the Venus School and experimenting before she came here.”

“Hey, you had a great Introduction Scene,” Liam said, looking a little disgruntled. Which Luke took to mean Liam had probably handled Hilary’s introduction to BDSM himself.

“I wasn’t complaining about the scene itself,” she said, patting her husband’s hand where it was resting on her waist. “It was just scary to have to jump in feet first without even getting a toe wet.”

“What would you call your tour of the club when you came here with Justin and Chris for the first time?” Andrew asked, leaning in to join their conversation.

Hilary rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I got my toes wet and then jumped right in. But the new subbies get to wade in. Excuse me for thinking a slow descent into kinky waters would be preferable.”

She drawled out the ‘excuse me’ in an exaggerated manner, obviously teasing Andrew and making her boyfriend grin at her sass.

“That sounds like either the tag line of a horror movie or a porn, I can’t decide which,” Kate said, tilting her head to the side and getting a faraway look in her eyes as she thought about it. The vacant expression made her look even more like a Barbie doll than she normally did with her hourglass figure, white-blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and tanned skin. Andrew leaned over and whispered something in her ear, making her giggle, as Hilary turned back to Luke.

“I heard Olivia ‘worked with’ you last night,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant but she was definitely fishing. 

Luke couldn’t hide his smile. He’d been warned the whole group was gossip central. Which was why Michael and Patrick had been so insistent on not telling anyone about Luke enrolling in the submissives’ class until after they were able to surprise Olivia. Apparently they hadn’t been kidding about how fast news got around. He also appreciated the implied air quotes she put around ‘worked with.’ Cute.

“She did,” he said, as casually as he could. It was pretty obvious everyone knew he was into Olivia, and just as obvious they all knew she was giving him a run for his money. “I’m pretty sure she’s trying to find someone else to take over for her though.”

“Mistress Lisa,” Jake said, pointing at a stunning blonde standing behind the bar, dressed in all leather. She had the same confident air as Olivia… but somehow she just didn’t make his body jump with the same kind of excitement. Everyone looked at Jake curiously, and he shrugged with a smirk. “She had to check in with Patrick to make sure it was okay.”

Kate looked a little disgruntled. “He must not have told Lexie,” she murmured. 

“Doesn’t Mistress Lisa have a sub?” Sharon asked. “I thought she was with Karen.”

“She is,” Liam confirmed, a wide grin making him look even more boyish. “In fact, I do believe she is the only mistress in the club who currently has a submissive.”

“I wouldn’t read too much into that,” Luke said ruefully as everyone lit up with interest, even though a tiny spark of hope jumped up in his chest. Even though Olivia hadn’t actually told him to leave her alone, she wasn’t exactly encouraging him either. “Maybe she was the only one available.”

“Or maybe she was the first one Olivia asked,” Hilary said slyly. “That would be sooooo like Olivia.”

“Assuming she’s interested in me,” Luke said dryly.

“Brian told me she’s calling you ‘cupcake’,” Sharon said, leaning forward on the table. 

Jake scowled at her. “I thought you two broke up.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “So we’re not allowed to talk?”

“Why is calling me ‘cupcake’ important?” Luke asked the table at large, ignoring the backasswards flirting Jake and Sharon liked to engage in. 

Hilary grinned even wider as she answered his question.

“What do you think her favorite dessert is?”

******

Pulling up to Adam and Angel’s house to pick up Leigh, who had been hanging out over there during the day, Olivia looked in the rearview mirror to check the other occupants of her van. Kate and Lexie were in the very back seat talking to each other quietly enough that Olivia couldn’t hear any of what they were saying, while Sharon and Ellie were in the bucket seats bopping along to the music. Hilary had called shotgun, which hadn’t been hard since she’d been the first one Olivia had picked up.

“Leigh says she’ll be out in a second,” Hilary said, looking up from her phone screen. She’d been informing everyone of their imminent arrival.

Before Olivia could respond, the front door burst open—but instead of Leigh, it was Angel, bundled up in a fluffy winter coat that made her look even bigger than she actually was and waddling for all she was worth.

“Jail break!” Angel cried out, pumping her fist to the sky.

Olivia snorted with laughter.

Leaning forward between the two front seats, Sharon giggled. “She knows we don’t actually have room for her right?”

“We’ll figure it out if she actually makes it that far,” Olivia said, just as an exasperated Adam came striding after his wife. Since Angel couldn’t move very fast anyway, it only took a couple of large steps for him to catch up and swing her up into his arms. By now everyone in the van was watching and laughing, and Hilary had lowered the music volume in an attempt to hear whatever Adam was saying to Angel. He still wasn’t audible, but Angel came through loud and clear.

“NOOOOOOO!” Angel wailed, reaching out for the van from the cradle of her husband’s embrace. “I wanna be a real girl again!”

She sagged dramatically as Leigh came out onto the front porch giggling and gave Angel a kiss on the forehead and Adam’s arm a supportive squeeze before she bounded down the stairs much faster than Angel could have managed. Grinning, she practically skipped to the van as Adam kicked the front door shut behind him and Angel.

“What was all that about?” Sharon demanded to know as soon as she’d pulled the side door open for Leigh.

Still laughing, Leigh climbed in and moved between the two bucket seats to sit between Kate and Lexie in the very back. “That was Angel trying to get on Adam’s nerves. I don’t think she actually even wanted to come out, she’s just antsy.”

“I can understand that,” Olivia muttered as she put the van in reverse. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hilary glance at her, which she ignored.

No she did not want to talk about her own antsy-ness. She knew exactly why she was antsy, she just didn’t know what she was going to do about it. Especially since part of her, a big part of her, wanted to see what Luke would do next.

She’d never been in a position like this before and she wasn’t comfortable with it, and she sure as hell did not want to talk about it.

“Turn the music up!” Sharon demanded, poking Hilary’s shoulder and distracting her. “Let’s get this party started already!”

Hilary obliged as the other ladies hooted and cheered, and they all began bouncing in their seats. Sharon’s arms waved wildly as she gyrated in her sitting position, and Olivia couldn’t help but laugh as she turned down the next street.

Man, she loved these crazy women. This had been exactly what she needed.

******

Another night at Stronghold without Olivia, but this time he wasn’t surrounded by couples and he knew she wasn’t just avoiding him. The ladies were out on a night together and the guys had come to hang out at Stronghold on their own. Andrew was working behind the bar and Jared was on door duty, but Jake, Liam, Patrick, and Michael were all hanging out with Luke at one of the tables. 

He’d been a little surprised when Patrick had invited him back to Stronghold tonight, just for ‘guy time.’ Surprised, but also pleased. Taking the opportunity to get to know his new business partners and friends a little better was good, but he’d also thought they might want to go somewhere other than Stronghold. Still, he understood why the bar here appealed more than going elsewhere. 

Good drinks, good company, and some very interesting sights. Like the stately white-haired gentlemen being led toward the Dungeon on a collar and leash by a woman who was just as elegant and white-haired as he was. Luke couldn’t help but be fascinated. He hadn’t really thought about growing older in this lifestyle… or about being led around on a collar and leash. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the latter. Being leashed didn’t exactly appeal, but it didn’t seem to bother that gentlemen, and if Olivia wanted to be the one holding the leash…

He could see it happening.

“That’s Marianne and Walter,” Patrick murmured in Luke’s ear. “Been together forty-six years. They’re the oldest couple in the club, although they have some friends they bring with them every so often that are around the same age.”

Damn. Well, it was good to see people didn’t just lose their interest in kink as they aged, he reflected as he turned back to the table. Although, he hoped Walter didn’t have to do much kneeling. Luke had been practicing ever since class and his knees were getting sore. He couldn’t imagine the constant up and down at Walter’s age.

Liam had his phone out and was surreptitiously looking at it, half hidden under the table. Luke raised his eyebrows. “I thought phones were banned in here.”

“Unless you think you might need it in case of emergency,” Patrick said seriously. He scowled, his eyes unfocusing as if he was seeing someone or something that wasn’t actually there. “And Liam can be trusted, unlike some people.”

“What emergency?” Luke asked, a little confused. As far as he knew, Liam ran a Kung-Fu studio and didn’t have a side job that would allow him to bring his phone in. For a doctor or police officer he could see it making sense.

Jake chuckled as the others all grimaced with odd expressions on their faces. Like they were trying to look innocent. “What Patrick means is they all get antsy when the girls are out and they can’t be there. Especially tonight because they refused to tell any of these guys where they were going.”

“Hilary’s still keeping me updated, like a good girl,” Liam said. “She just won’t say where they are.”

“Because if she did, she knows damn well we’d all be moving this party to somewhere close to wherever they’ve ended up,” Jake said, still looking amused. He shrugged at Luke. “Apparently the ladies don’t feel it’s a proper girls’ night out when they know these guys are lurking nearby.”

The corners of Luke’s mouth twitched. Yeah, he could see that. Seeing how disgruntled the Doms all were about being left out was pretty funny though. He definitely got the temptation. If he knew where Olivia was and all the other men decided to head over there too…

No wonder the ladies weren’t telling.

******

There’s always that one guy, Olivia thought with a sigh.

The ladies had all been dancing and having a great time, mostly in a circle, and then one dumb ass had to go and literally try to rub his ass on them. Which was kind of funny at first. Sharon just laughed, spanked him and turned away, dismissing him. He seemed to take the hint, but after another drink he was back and trying to back up into them. Not just into their circle, literally trying to back into Sharon and rubbing his butt on her again… which was a lot less funny this time around. Sighing, Sharon moved and told him she wasn’t interested. 

Ten minutes later he was back again with the butt rubbing.

Sharon moved out of the way and he ended up backing up into the empty space between all of them before straightening up—obviously confused that the girl he’d been bumping had moved. Drunken asshat. 

When he turned around to see where Sharon had gone, he found himself facing Olivia, who stood with her arms crossed over her chest and an entirely unamused expression on her face. The others were still in the circle which he’d now entered, none of them looking very happy to have their dancing interrupted. Lexie was glaring particularly fiercely, which wasn’t a surprise, but unlike Olivia she didn’t always have the muscle to back up her death glare.

Dumbass looked at Olivia and then averted his gaze, looking around at the other women, his expression going from dumbfounded to sheepish, and then he finally slunk away. Hopefully not to return, because Olivia had no problem going to get security if he didn’t leave them alone. 

“You are a goddess,” Sharon said, throwing her arms around Olivia. “I want to be you when I grow up!”

Chuckling, Olivia patted the shorter woman on the head. It wasn’t Sharon’s fault she was never going to be as intimidating as Olivia. Even if she wasn’t petite and adorable, she had a total subbie attitude for the most part; she was definitely the type to try and avoid conflict. 

“That’s what I’m here for,” Olivia said.

“Olivia’s a beast!” Kate said cheering and holding up her drink in acknowledgement. 

A little over an hour later—at one in the morning—they decided it was time to go. The dance floor was getting way too crowded to actually move as the younger twenty-somethings were finally joining the party. Not that Olivia had enjoyed packed dance floors even when she’d been a twenty-something. Now she was definitely too old for this shit. 

When Sharon suddenly stumbled, obviously knocked into by someone, Olivia caught her and turned, already pissed off. She’d assumed it was dumbass from earlier… nope.

Someone way, way worse.

“You! Bitch!” Roland’s snarling face was definitely close to the last she’d ever wanted to see again. Behind her she heard someone gasp and she wasn’t sure if it was because Kate and Leigh recognized him too, or because he’d just called her a bitch.

Roland had been one of her Baby Doms. Not one whom she’d liked. He’d been smug, uncooperative, and a misogynist from the very beginning. He was the kind of dominant who bordered more on being abusive than anything else, especially since he didn’t seem to care if his submissive was into what he was doing as long as she followed orders. When he’d been kicked out of the class he’d turned completely deranged in his anger and actually tried to assault Leigh in the parking lot on his way out. Kate had come to her rescue, but it had still scared the crap out of both of them.

Patrick had immediately not just banned Roland from Stronghold, but had sent his information and what had happened out to all of his contacts, which included all the owners of all the other clubs in the area. Even the ones which didn’t keep as close an eye on their members as Patrick did wouldn’t want a known troublemaker to come in the house. 

“Back off, Roland,” Olivia snapped. From the way his face was flushed, his eyes a little unfocused, she had a feeling he was drunk. Maybe even high. He looked strung out, skinnier than he had been, and not entirely rational.

“You fucking cunt, you ruined me!” 

“Asshole!” Lexie shouted from behind her, having come up to collect Sharon.

Shaking her head, Olivia half turned to push Lexie towards the exit, taking up the rear guard in case Roland decided to be a complete shithead again. Of course, pushing Lexie was like trying to push a brick wall. For such a tiny thing, she was really damn good at planting her feet. No wonder Patrick just threw her over his shoulder most of the time.

“If you’re ruined, it’s your own damn fault,” she said, keeping one eye on him, one on her girls. Lexie was looking positively mutinous and even Leigh and Kate looked like they were ready to throw down. “I haven’t seen you in months. Now back off.”

“No one will let me into their club!” he snarled at her. 

The people around them were starting to quiet, sensing something was wrong, and Olivia could see one of the security guys making his way over toward them through the crowd. Good. Because she sure as hell wasn’t turning her back on Roland.

“Like I said, that’s your own damn fault,” she said coldly. “That’s what happens when you attack people.”

A little more space opened up around them, but Roland didn’t seem to notice. He was too far gone, either into emotion or the alcohol he’d drunk.

“Fucking cunt!” He lunged at her, hands reaching for her neck, and Olivia’s training took over. Her right arm snapped out and then up, catching his arms and sweeping them to the side, and she got him right in the nose with her left. Just in time she remembered to pull her punch. Just a little. 

She didn’t want to knock him out in the middle of a club and get into trouble herself, after all. The security guy would be there in a second to take care of Roland.

Roland stumbled back with a high-pitched squeal, his hands coming up to cover his nose just as the security guy reached them. 

“She hit me!” Roland shrieked, pointing at Olivia with one hand, the other still covering his face.

“I saw,” the man said, his expression solemn. He gave Olivia a nod. “Would you like to press charges, ma’am? We have video.”

“No, thank you,” Olivia said, mostly just relieved the security guard obviously knew what was up and wasn’t going to make trouble for her. She just wanted to go. “We just want to go home.”

He nodded again as Roland sputtered, grasping the belligerent man’s arm. “Go ahead, ma’am, we’ll hold him here until he sobers up, which should give you plenty of time to leave without worrying about him.”

Feeling more tired than ever, Olivia nodded and turned away. Her friends had all grouped together a few steps behind her, worry and upset on their faces. Hilary was on her phone, probably texting Liam again, which made Olivia want to groan. Not that she expected her friends to not tell their respective significant others about running into Roland, but it was just another thing she was going to have to deal with later.

“Come on, let’s go,” she said, waving her hand at them. “Nothing to see here.”

Giving her a lopsided smile, Hilary looped her arm around Olivia’s waist as they exited the club.

“I definitely want to be you when I grow up,” Sharon said, nodding her head firmly as she and Kate linked arms. Ahead of them, Leigh, Lexie, and Ellie were all chattering away at each other, back to laughing and enjoying themselves, already pushing the run in with Roland out of their minds. Olivia could feel herself relaxing again.

Her friends were awesome.

******

“Shit.” Liam jumped up from his seat, running his hand through his hair. “The girls ran into Roland.”

Jake looked as confused as Luke, but everyone else jumped up from their seats suddenly on high alert, which made Luke anxious even though he didn’t know who Roland was or what was going on. 

“Where are they?” Patrick demanded, even though he was already pulling out his own phone, as was Michael. He scowled, presumably because his own girlfriend hadn’t texted him, and immediately began pressing the screen. 

“She won’t say, she just says they were already leaving and Olivia’s taking everyone home.” Liam sounded more than a little frustrated.

“Who’s Roland?” Luke asked.

He and Jake got the quickie explanation as the guys rounded up Andrew and Jared and the whole group split up to head home and confirm their ladies were okay. Jake went with Patrick, wanting to see his sister after hearing the explanation. Which left Luke all alone, feeling rather frustrated that he had no right to go to Olivia and make sure she was okay. 

Going home alone and wondering exactly what had gone down and how Olivia was really sucked. It sucked a lot.