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Unless of course Angel wasn’t really submissive, in which case Leigh’s deferral to her would make a lot of sense.
Stop that.
His instincts said Angel was and he needed to stop over thinking it. Just because she’d misled him the first time they’d met, that didn’t mean she would again. At the time, she felt like she’d had reason to.
Which wasn’t entirely reassuring, but he pushed back his own issues.
“Usually men, sometimes women,” Olivia said with a smile, giving Leigh a little wink. She blushed prettily, although it didn’t seem to make her uncomfortable. “I do tend to prefer men though. Especially the ones that are more... challenging.” Her smile was almost predatory and it made all of the men shift uncomfortably. None of them had a problem with a woman dominating a man, as long as the man enjoyed it, but by the same token, none of them could be completely comfortable with Olivia when she had that look in her eye. It was the same one she got right before she trussed a submissive up and tortured his cock and balls.
Adam didn’t care if it made the sub hard, he couldn’t watch without cringing. Or think about it without cringing. None of them could.
“But aren’t they stronger than you?” Leigh’s hand clapped to her mouth as she realized in some ways, what she had said could be construed as an insult. “Oh, I’m sorry... that’s not the point is it?”
“No, it’s not,” Olivia said, giving her a reassuring smile. For all her fierceness when dealing with experienced submissives, especially naughty or bratty ones, Olivia could be incredibly gentle and patient with the newbs. “They submit because they want to. But yes, there are some who enjoy the sensation of being forced to submit. It’s not something I’ve ever had a problem with.” She said it without conceit, although Adam had seen some of the subs she’d had to physically enforce her orders with.
They wanted it of course, although it was harder for a large, muscular male to play the brat and then be physically pushed into position. There were a very, very few who wanted to challenge and then be slapped down by a woman and those were the subs Olivia honestly preferred.
She didn’t come to Liam’s dojo often, because her workouts consisted of kickboxing and Krav Maga, although he’d also seen her take down more than one sub with one of the nerve holds Liam had taught them.
“You’re not worried about...” Angel’s voice trailed off as she looked worriedly at her friend. “I mean, you don’t need to come to one of my classes for a refresher course do you?”
“Oh, no, of course not!” Leigh looked shocked at the very idea and Angel relaxed and smiled at her.
“Okay, good, just checking.”
“What kind of class?” Jessica wanted to know.
Angel’s cheeks darkened a bit in a blush. “Um, I teach women’s self-defense classes.”
Both she and Leigh looked a little uncomfortable and Adam suddenly realized Angel must have worried Leigh’s “guy troubles” had become physical. He could have told her not to worry. From his reading of Leigh’s interest in Olivia, he would say it was a fascination a new submissive had with someone who was obviously dominate and yet approachable. A lot of new subs went to Olivia with their questions, finding her less intimidating than the other Dommes and Doms roaming the club.
“That’s so cool! Where do you teach them?” Hilary asked.
Immediately she was yanked backwards and into Liam’s arms. Angel and Leigh looked surprised and almost a little alarmed before they realized everyone else was either chuckling or observing the couple with amusement.
“You don’t need self-defense classes, honey-girl,” Liam said, frowning down at his girlfriend. “And if you do, you can come to the dojo.”
“Women’s self-defense is different from martial arts,” Angel said, interrupting whatever response Hilary was about to give. She gave Liam a hard look, not at all submissive. “It’s about learning how to avoid situations where you’ll be at risk and about getting away once you’re in them. It’s not the same as fighting, because the goal isn’t to win, it’s to escape. Every woman should take self-defense at some point in her life, because you never know when you might need it and it’s not like you can be right next to Hilary every second of every day. And a woman needs to know she can make herself safe.”
She said it so fiercely, Adam realized her forceful demeanor came from passion about the subject. Something angry and protective rose up in his chest as he wondered if there was a reason from her past she was so fervent. He completely understood Liam’s reaction. A Dom considered it his duty to care for his sub, and that included protecting her.
But Angel’s argument was also indisputable.
In fact, Angel’s little speech had roused both Chris and Justin’s protective instincts as well. Both were frowning and had shifted closer to Jessica, their too-alert stances indicating they were suddenly searching for any threats they might need to eradicate for her. Patrick was suddenly eyeing the door to the lobby as if questioning the wisdom of leaving Lexie out there without his personal protection, never mind the bouncer who was always guarding the door.
The feisty brunette looked around at the emotional havoc she’d created among the Doms and laughed. “Wow... sorry guys, I didn’t mean to put everyone on alert.”
Realizing his hand had tensed around the drink he was holding, Adam relaxed his grip. If someone had hurt Angel it was in the past and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. As for the urge to make sure she was never hurt again... well that wasn’t his job. Although he was starting to consider making it his.
Hilary tapped Liam’s forearm and twisted her head around to look up at him. “If I want to take self-defense classes, you aren’t going to stop me.”
“I know.” He kissed her forehead gently. “I don’t like the idea you might need them.”
“Well neither do I,” she teased, rolling her eyes. They both laughed and the tension around the group started to break. Adam looked back at Angel and saw she was looking at the couple wistfully.
Off to the side Chris and Justin had both closed in around Jessica, who was smiling up at them reassuringly. She looked over at Angel. “I’d love to take some too, you’ll have to let me know where and when you have a class.”
“Right now I’m mid-session for all of them, but I can let you know the next time one starts. I’m always looking for new places to hold them, it’s not the steadiest work except for the college courses I teach.”
