Page 191 of Masters of Pleasure
“It’s not a date.She needs someone willing to scene with her who isn’t intimidated by her big brother.”
“Uh-huh.”The others exchanged a glance, and Law scowled at them.This club was full of nosy gossips.
“I’ll talk to Q.In the meantime, I have a scene with a submissive I need to get ready for.”He stressed the word ‘scene.’Not that it mattered.The other three were whispering to each other before the door closed behind him.
Hopefully, tonight didn’t end up being more trouble than it was worth.
ChapterEleven
Iris
There were two ways to reach the second floor of Marquis, three if she counted the emergency exit.Tonight, Iris used the back door.The front would have taken her through the Marquis restaurant, and even though she was wearing a little black dress that would have fit in just fine, she’d already sparked enough gossip by running her mouth at the bar last week.
The more circumspect she could be tonight, the better.
Was she second-guessing tonight?
Yeah.Maybe.
This was her first time at Marquis for something other than class.
She was honest enough to admit she had a crush on the Dom she was scening with and realized she did not know howhefelt abouther.
As much as she tried not to think about this as a ‘pity scene’ because beggars couldn’t be choosers, the thought still floated around in the back of her head.She was pretty sure she’d felt a spark of mutual attraction between them… and hoped she wasn’t fooling herself.
Even if nothing came of tonight but a great scene, she would be happy.She’d be a lot happier if it meant she got to start scening more regularly, even if it was with Doms, who’d previously been too intimidated.
Slipping in the back door, she could hear the buzz of the restaurant down the hallway.Only the staff and the upstairs club members used the back entrance, so it was designed not to be seen by anyone in the restaurant.Heading around the hall to where she could just see inside the dining room—past the stairwell and bathrooms—she smiled with relief that no one was there.
The sounds of people talking and eating dropped away as she headed up the stairs to the lobby of Marquis’ second floor.It was a lot like Stronghold, just fancier.There was a door to the manager’s office, as well as a desk next to the door to the main stage where the performances were held, and standing beside that door was a Dom who also served as a bouncer.
A lot of Doms and subs chose to take positions at Stronghold and Marquis to get discounts on their memberships—unlike Iris, who had ended up being a server at Stronghold because she’d gotten into trouble.She was hardly the only subbie it had happened to.It was a pretty common punishment, especially for brats who were trying to top from the bottom.
Sometimes, she wondered if that described her or if she just had an issue with authority she couldn’t quite seem to let go of.
“Hey, Iris!”Freddy, who ran the front desk at Marquis and often manned it, perked up when he saw her appear.Next to him, one of the other club subs, Tori, let out a low whistle.“Damn girl, you look good.Going to give Master Law a run for his money, huh?”
“Is that something you think I need?”The dry question came from behind her, and Iris jumped, cheeks flaming.Thankfully, despite her stiletto heels, she didn’t stumble as she turned around.
Master Law had apparently just come from the hallway that skirted around the ‘show’ area and went straight back to the hotel portion of the operation.Marquis not only boasted theme rooms like Stronghold but each theme room was attached to a regular hotel room so guests could spend the night without having to worry about going home after an intense scene.
That was why a lot of the members used a visit to Marquis as something special since they could stay overnight.Though, not everyone did.
“Hi,” Iris said, hands smoothing nervously over her skirt as she tried to push down her jangling nerves.Wearing his usual leathers, he also wore a button-down white shirt with the top button undone—a fancier version of what he often wore at Stronghold.
When he smiled at her, it was all she could do not to melt into a little puddle on the floor.
“You look beautiful,” he said, coming forward and holding out his hand.Iris took it, blushing even hotter as she felt his fingers against hers.
Yes, sometimes, he’d used her for demonstrations during class, but that had been different.That had been impersonal… in front of a bunch of people.He’d barely looked at her.
Not like he was looking at her right now, with heat in his eyes as they scanned her body.The spark of attraction?Yeah, that lit up her fingers where their hands were touching, making her entire arm feel tingly.
Girl, you have got it bad.
Lower your expectations, lower your expectations, lower your expectations…
Just because he was attracted to her didn’t mean he would want more than a scene.In fact, he probablywouldn’twant more.
