Page 102 of Masters of Pleasure
“I’m single and ready to mingle,” Iris quipped, getting a smile from both Avery and the blonde, though the blonde’s seemed a little forced.
“I’m Samantha, but I go by Sam,” the blonde replied, giving herself a little shake.She walked over to the other side of the circle to the last chair on that side, as far away from Q as she could get, then sat down primly on the seat, crossing her legs.
From his vantage point, Nick could see Q blatantly checking out her legs before averting his gaze.Whatever was going on between them, he was pretty sure it was more than just friction.
“Welcome to the party.”Happily grinning in her seat, Iris seemed the only one unbothered by the odd little showdown between Q and Sam.Leaning back, she crossed her legs crossed like Sam, but her boot heel was bouncing up and down, jiggling as if she had too much energy to hold inside.
Thankfully, before they had to find something to say, the door behind them opened again.
This time, Nick didn’t bother to jump up.He turned in his seat… and immediately wished he had gotten to his feet.
“Okay, everybody’s here!”Freddy’s cheerful voice preceded him and the last two arrivals, a stunningly beautiful redhead named Morgan.Nick recognized her because she’d recently started working at the front desk of Marquis’ second floor.An absolute giant of a man, who he’d never seen, followed her.Nick fought back the urge to jump to his feet, so he didn’t feel as if he was being loomed over, but it probably wouldn’t have helped, anyway.
Nick was six feet and one inch and knew Freddy was only an inch or two shorter than him.Freddy only came up to the man’s shoulder, so the guy had to be at least six-four, maybe more, and he was beefy as hell.There was no other word for it.He looked like the Mountain from Game of Thrones.
“Go sit down,” Freddy said cheerfully, pointing to the three empty seats between Q and Sam.A frown flitted over his face for a moment before it disappeared, probably because it was clear Sam was on the outside of the group.They hadn’t meant for it to be that way, but it looked bad.Nick winced inwardly, though he wasn’t sure what he could have done.
“I’ll be right back with Master Law and Mistress Julie.”Freddy waved at them, then disappeared through the door.Sudden tightness clenched Nick’s chest as Morgan and the massive Dom went to take their seats.Not because of them, but because he still didn’t know what to expect once the class started.
He hated not knowing what to expect.
ChapterEleven
Avery
With all thedrama that had almost erupted between Q and Sam, everything else was almost anticlimactic after that.When Morgan and Connor introduced themselves, was it her imagination, or did Nick squeeze her hand a little tighter?Maybe because she couldn’t stop staring at Connor.She’d just never seen someone so tall and muscular in real life.He was built like a linebacker or maybe a book cover model… for a really raunchy book.
They barely got introductions out of the way before Freddy returned with Master Law and Mistress Julie.Avery sat up a little straighter in her seat as the teachers came in.Yeah, technically, it wasn’t her class, but she still wanted to make a good impression, and both of them were intimidating as hell.
Avery had met them both Master before.Master Law’s real name was Lawrence, and he was a lawyer, which had led to the submissives dubbing him Master Law.From what Domi and Rae told her, he’d tried to fight it but had eventually given in rather than attempting to punish every submissive in the club.
Actually, she was surprised he hadn’t been able to stamp it out.Not that he wasn’t intimidating.He was.A bit taller than her, Filipino, a little grizzled, even though she was pretty sure he was only in his early forties, when he scowled, it was enough to make her want to hit the floor with her knees.There was just something too catchy about the nickname—and it fit him.Domi and Rae had told her he had a bit of a reputation as a hardass.Rather than leathers or fetwear, he was dressed in a dark blue suit with a striped blue-and-cream tie, which would fit right in at his office.
Mistress Julie was shorter than Avery by several inches, in her early thirties, and was as scary as Olivia.Her Japanese ancestry was clear in her features and the incredible length of long, straight black hair that hung nearly to her waist.Rae had whispered that when Mistress Julie put her hair in a ponytail, smart submissives ran for cover.
When she patted Freddy’s cheek and smiled at him before he went to sit down in the last empty chair, he looked as though he might melt of happiness on the spot.Unlike Master Law, she had chosen to go full fet-wear, dressed in a shiny and slick catsuit that gleamed under the lights.Except for a large keyhole to show off a hint of cleavage, it covered her from her neck to her knee-high, laced-up boots with a spiked heel.
When the two Dominants got on the stage, looking over the semi-circle of students in front of them, Avery pressed her hands and legs together and sat very, very still, clutching Nick’s hand between hers.
If she had any doubts whether Nick was a Dom, it was cleared up when he glanced at her, clearly confused why she was freaking out.Obviously, they weren’t having the same reaction to the Dominants in front of them.
“Hello everyone, and welcome to the Introduction to Dominance course provided by Stronghold and Marquis.”Mistress Julie’s voice was cool and composed, but she smiled like a shark, her dark eyes glinting with sadistic anticipation.
Nick was stupid if he wasn’t at least a little scared.
Nick
“You have suspension down as a hard limit.Why is that?”Nick asked, trying to keep his eyes focused on the woman in front of him rather than where Avery was sitting with the massive Dom.
Even though she was his partner for the class, for today’s activity—practicing getting to know their partner and talking about limits—the submissives were rotating through each of the Dominants so they could have four chances to work on communication with different people.
Not that Iris seemed submissive to him.
She was sitting back in the chair, now facing him, arms crossed over her chest, one booted foot bouncing up and down where her ankle was resting on her knee.Everything about her body language screamed, ‘I don’t want to be here.’Fair enough.Nick didn’t want to be here either—at least, not with her.
“I don’t like being tied up and hung out to dry,” she said sardonically.It took Nick’s brain a moment to register what she said, then he chuckled, yanking his gaze back to her.A tiny smile played on her lips.“Having trouble concentrating, Sir?”
“A little.”He wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
