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3
Three weeks before Christmas
Angel
Being at Stronghold without a baby curfew was weird.
Angel slid her eyes over her husband as they walked through the door. His fingers were firmly wrapped around hers, and it felt nice. Good. Comforting.
It helped that she didn’t have Melody on her mind. For the first time, they wouldn’t be watching the clock to make sure they left in time to get back home. Melody was having her first sleepover at Grandma’s house, and they wouldn’t be picking her up until tomorrow morning.
While that was a little nerve-wracking, it also made her feel free. Which also made her feel like a bad mom, but she was pushing past that. I’m more than a mom. She deserved to have a night off. So did Adam. With each other, specifically.
She still wasn’t sure she felt like sex and couldn’t help but be a little tense every time they went to Stronghold. Not that they’d had sex every time they went to Stronghold, even before Melody was born, but since they hadn’t had sex at Stronghold since Melody was born… well, it was hard not to think about it.
The club was the same as ever. They checked in, said hi to Trish at the desk, then to Will, tonight’s bouncer at the door between the lobby and the main part of the club. The main floor of Stronghold was three-quarters bar and lounge and one-quarter dance floor. Other than the photos behind the bar and the style of clothing people were wearing, it could almost be any normal bar on a Saturday night. Though, unlike in most bars, the music didn’t overpower the entire room, so people didn’t have to yell through their conversations.
Upstairs were private themed rooms, though those using them often left the window and or door into the room open for other’s viewing pleasure, and downstairs was the main Dungeon and a few more private rooms that went with the Dungeon theme—the jail, interrogation room, and doctor’s office. The themed rooms made role play a lot more immersive, which Angel had always enjoyed.
Right now, despite the guilt, all she really wanted to do was head straight for the bar table where she could see her friends. Her heart leapt in her chest, warmth and happiness expanding to fill her whole body as heads lifted and turned and hands came up to wave. By the time she and Adam reached them and the hugs of greeting started, she was bouncing up and down with excitement.
“Hello, hello, hello!” she said, grabbing each of her friends in turn and hugging them. They weren’t all there, but there were a lot of them.
Kate was sitting on one of the chairs at the table with her Andrew snuggled up behind her. They were only a few weeks away from getting married—Kate had wanted a holiday-themed wedding, and they’d be married the day after Christmas. With her white-blonde hair, blue eyes, ample curves, and long legs, Kate looked like a real-life Barbie doll. Andrew, in contrast, had black hair, dark brown eyes, medium brown skin, and a striking resemblance to Antonio Banderas.
Jessica, Justin, and Chris were next to them, with Jessica wedged between her two husbands as usual. Both of them had their arms around her waist. Justin and Chris were both white, though their hair was as dark as Andrew’s, and they were similar enough in looks, a lot of people thought they were brothers, even though there was no relation. Jessica was much shorter than both of them, curvy, with medium brown hair and a sunny smile that lit her up face when she met Angel’s eyes. That extra-bright smile and the increase of her curves had been two of the reasons their group of friends suspected Jessica was pregnant.
The pregnancy they all did know about was Hilary’s. Honey-blonde hair and big brown eyes, she was on her husband’s lap. Liam was the shortest of the Doms, but no less intimidating, with boyish features and ginger hair. He also owned a kung fu dojo, and Adam assured her he was the last of their friends that anyone should want to fight. Hilary was due in March, and both her and Liam’s hands were resting on the sizable baby bump.
“Hey there, pretty boy!” Angel said, hugging her friend Michael before giving his fiancé Ellie a hug. They’d gotten engaged just a few weeks ago, and she couldn’t be happier for them. She laughed when Adam suddenly appeared behind her, his hand on her hip, to extend his own greeting to Michael.
She and Michael had been very close friends for a long time, and at one point, Adam had been wildly jealous of that relationship. Now they were friends, but there was still a bit of friendly rivalry between them.
“It’s good to see you two,” Ellie said, giving Angel a hard squeeze. Even shorter than Jessica and just as curvy, Ellie was the quietest of their group of friends. The corset she was wearing pushed her boobs up to an impressive shelf. Angel smiled, though the sight gave her a pang. It was a corset she had made, back when she still had the time to do that.
She kept thinking she’d get some sewing done while Melody was napping or sleeping, but that hadn’t happened in ages. Seeing some of her own handiwork reminded her how much she missed it.
“It’s good to be out of the house,” Angel said honestly, though her own corset wasn’t as comfortable as it used to be. Her boobs were a lot bigger, even though she’d pumped before leaving the house. She’d had to put nursing pads in them so she didn’t leak milk all over the inside.
And you wonder why you don’t feel sexy or sexual. It’s such a mystery.
At least she could still have fun with her friends.
Adam
Watching Angel hanging out at the table, laughing and joking, Adam felt a pang of disappointment, she wasn’t this relaxed when they were at home and happiness she was getting to relax.
Justin gave him a significant look from across the table, filled with both approval and sympathy. Angel was now wedged between Ellie and Kate, chattering away with both of them. Neither of them had been around during their last visit to Stronghold, and it had been a while since they’d all gotten together, much less that she’d seen either of them.
It sucked to feel as if he was on the outside when all he wanted was more quality time with Angel, but he could see her mood improving with every second she got with her friends. They’d both needed this. He needed to spend time with his friends, too.
Though, as a certain redhead sauntered through the club toward him, he inwardly sighed.
Mistress Olivia, Dominatrix, mother-hen to submissives, and one of his best friends. She was also uncomfortably insightful and bluntly honest when asked for relationship advice. Deep down, he knew Justin was right. Talking with Olivia would likely be very helpful, but it chafed that he couldn’t fix this himself.
“Hey, there.” Olivia gave him a hug before pulling away and standing next to him, observing their group of friends alongside him.
“Hey, where’s Luke?” Olivia’s boyfriend and submissive was usually by her side, especially when she was at the clubs. She spent more time at Stronghold’s sister club, Marquis, than Stronghold these days. She was Marquis’ manager, and Luke was part-owner.
