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For just a moment she looked like she might try to escape back into the locker room, but as his fingers threaded through hers, she straightened her shoulders and nodded her head. “Okay.”
Why he felt the need to hold her hand, he didn’t know. It wasn’t a customary way of leading a submissive through a club. Maybe he was sensing some need of hers, some kind of craving for normalcy in this strange world he’d led her into. Poor thing must feel a bit like Alice, fallen down the rabbit hole. As he led her back to the table, he could feel her fingers tightening around his, the only indication of nerves he could see.
Of course, Patrick and Adam might see more. They tended to be particularly observant Doms, the best out of the group at reading body language. All of them were good at it, but Patrick and Adam sometimes picked up on things that the rest of them didn’t.
All of them were smiling, except Andrew, but even he didn’t look unwelcoming. Just like he was examining her, taking in every nuance of her movements. Rick didn’t take offense to it, he knew Andrew, like Jared, was just worried because of his own experiences. He didn’t want Rick to get hurt. But neither of them would be unwelcoming to Maria, and she had obviously passed Jared’s appraisal before he’d let them in the door.
Besides, like Lexie, the girls were more than making up for any unsmiling faces. Angel actually was bouncing now, and so was Jessica. Hilary was slightly more reserved, but the pretty blonde’s face was lit up like it was Christmas. They were all so obviously thrilled to meet anyone Rick brought to the club and he could only thank his lucky stars they were there. Not that he didn’t love his male friends, but as a group they were pretty intimidating. The girls provided the softer edges which were needed for a newbie like Maria.
He introduced Maria around, keeping a firm hold on her hand, mostly because she was clinging to it. None of her anxiety showed on her face or in the way she was answering Angel and Jessica’s questions, but he felt her need for support through her fingers. So he didn’t let go, even when more than one of his friends raised their eyebrows at the fact.
Not like any of them had room to talk. Liam rarely let Hilary out of arm’s reach and preferred her tucked directly beneath his arm, either Justin or Chris were almost always touching Jessica in one way or another, and Adam’s lap had practically become Angel’s permanent seat. Then again, it wasn’t like Maria was his girlfriend.
“I’ve been there, I love that place!” Angel exclaimed as Rick tuned back into the conversation. “We’ll have to come in and visit sometime.”
“Absolutely,” Maria was saying, her fingers slowly relaxing in Rick’s grip. He doubted anyone could be unaffected by the open friendliness coming at her from all sides. “I mostly work during the day but I’m usually there for happy hour too.”
Crap, he should have been paying more attention. His focus was all over the place, comparing his friends’ relationships to him and Maria, thinking about showing Maria around the club, trying to act nonchalant about introducing her to his friends, all of it adding up to being distracted from the actual conversation going on around him. The girls were already making plans and he didn’t even know if Maria was going to want to see his face after she got a good look at the rest of the club.
“Hey,” he said, gently interrupting as he gave her fingers a squeeze. “Let’s head upstairs so you can look around.”
She looked up at him and for a moment he thought she was going to refuse, stay within the safety of the other women, but then she seemed to gather herself in and nod her head. While he was glad the girls were all eager to welcome Maria, it probably would have been better if he’d taken her around the club first. See if she even wanted to be welcomed to the group.
The upstairs of Stronghold was an eye opener. Rick seemed much more focused on her now. When he’d first introduced her to his friends he’d seemed pretty distracted. She’d always thought she and her sisters had using significant looks between each other down to an art, but he and his friends had been having an entire conversation without saying a word. Fortunately, the women had all been a lot more open. Maria had immediately liked all three of them, maybe because they’d been so obviously ready to like her too.
And whoo-boy... his friends! Probably the hottest congregation of male friends she’d ever seen gathered in one place. Most of them wearing at least one article of leather clothing, which really didn’t hurt when it came to the dangerous, bad-boy appeal. But it hadn’t been so much their looks, although all of them were attractive, as the sheer amount of power that seemed to radiate from all of them. Maria hadn’t felt so out of depth in her entire life. If it hadn’t been for their much sweeter, much more approachable girlfriends, she probably would have been too intimidated to speak a word.
She was a bit curious about Jessica. Rick had mentioned her in the past, Maria had gotten the impression she was Justin’s girlfriend from what he’d said. But, even though Justin had been sitting next to her, Chris had been stroking Jessica’s hair in a manner more intimate than friendly. And Justin hadn’t seemed to have a problem with it, which seemed a little strange.
Was that normal in a place like this?
Maria was all for live and let live, and Jessica hadn’t seemed to have a problem with it, but Maria hoped it wasn’t something that was just expected. Because she wasn’t sure she’d want to be with a guy who wanted to share her... and she definitely didn’t want to share. Right now she felt pretty out of her depth and she really didn’t know what Rick expected of her, which was pretty scary. Kind of exciting too, because her stupid body was really enjoying the way he was taking charge of her.
Stronghold’s second floor was somewhat reassuring when it came to the sharing thing. Not all of the rooms had the shades open for people to look in, but quite a few of them did, and they were showing couples. Although being able to see them was still a bit unnerving.
“They know we’re watching?” she whispered, her eyes glued to the sight of a couple in what looked like a high school locker room. The woman was wearing a cheerleading uniform and was laid out on the bench, her legs draped over the man’s shoulders, skirt flipped up, and moaning as his head moved up and down between her thighs. Watching through the window seemed both kind of creepy and kind of hot in a forbidden way.
Rick’s body seemed to lean closer to her, making all the hairs on her arm stand straight up as his lips practically pressed against her ear. “They wouldn’t have left the window open if they didn’t want people to watch. You know what exhibitionism and voyeurism are?”
“So they’re getting off on knowing people might be peeking in?”
“Yes. They’re not the only ones who are getting off on it. You like watching.” His finger ran down the center of her back and Maria shivered, stepping away as she blushed deeply.
“How do you know that?” Her voice came out as a little squeak, fortunately no one else in the hallway seemed to be paying attention. It was true, but it definitely wasn’t something she would have admitted. Even in the dim light of the hall she could see Rick’s eyes glowing a bright blue as he stepped closer again, a little smile on his face. For some reason the slight curve of his lips made her shiver again as her head tilted back.
Fuck... he was crowding her into a wall again. He really liked to do that. And it was shameful how much she liked it when he did. If she’d been sitting, she would have been squirming in her wet panties. As it was, she pressed her thighs together hard, trying to dampen her reaction.
“Because,” he said, his smile growing as he put his hands up on either side of her, trapping her with his body, but not touching her at all. Every inch of her skin seemed to ache for him to lean in and press against her. What was wrong with her? “Your breathing picked up, your cheeks turned a little bit pink, you licked your lower lip, and your nipples are hard as little diamonds.” He watched her face, which was turning even redder and she could feel it even though she couldn’t stop it. “Plus, now your pupils are dilating.”
His breathing was getting a little ragged too. Maria felt like her throat had seized up. All she could do was stare back into his brilliant blue eyes, unable to move, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. Which had never happened to her with a guy before, and it was seriously the most exciting thing she’d ever experienced. It felt like her body was thrumming, completely on edge, and if he wanted to do something kinky to her in the hallway she knew she wouldn’t stop him. People could totally watch if they wanted.
Watching her expression for just a moment longer, Rick eased back, and Maria found she could breathe again. “Come on, let’s look into some other rooms.”
Maria glared at his back as he turned away. She was all hot and bothered and he wasn’t even going to kiss her? What did a girl have to do to get some attention around here? Then again... she really did want to see what else the club had to offer. And she was secretly relieved, because now that her brain was working again, she was back to feeling unsure if she would really be okay with people watching them. Something about having Rick right there, taking over, made her just want to roll over and do whatever he wanted. Scary shit, even if it was exciting.
There was a movie theater where people could watch the exhibitionists in another room next door, but there wasn’t currently anyone on camera. Rick shrugged and said it happened every so often. Most of the other rooms in use had drapes in place, keeping out the voyeurs, but there was one that looked like an office they could peek into. A gorgeous blonde in flaming red latex had a man in a suit, with his pants around his ankles, bent over the desk and was spanking him with a large wooden paddle. His hairy butt was already a bright red and his loud yells were just audible through the window.
Maria gasped. “Oh my God… what are they doing?”
