Page 168 of Entering Stronghold

Really, he didn’t know yet how far she was going to be willing to go today, but he was allowed his fantasies. Even if, logically, he knew it was a better idea to hold off on any real intimacies until she was sure of what she wanted. Hope welled and stuck inside his chest. After all, the fact that she was willing to return to Stronghold for an Introduction Scene at all, everyone seemed to think it meant something significant.

When Maria opened the door, Rick’s cock made the front of his leathers even tighter. She looked stunning in a dark red tank top which looked like it was barely holding in her breasts, clinging to every inch of her curves, and a short black skirt that made her legs look miles long. It was a loose skirt, rather than a tight one, but he wasn’t going to complain, although eventually he’d like to see her in some tight-fitting PVC or latex. Her curls had been put back into a loose pony tail keeping it off her shoulders and back but gave him fantasies about winding the heavy mass around his hand and using it to guide her movements.

The way her head was slightly ducked, her shoulders slightly hunched, and the little glances she was giving him through her eyelashes made her the very picture of an uncertain, anxiously nervous little subbie.

“Hi,” she said in a breathy voice.

Rather than responding immediately, Rick took the time to make a lengthy and obvious perusal of her body, very similar to what he’d done the first time they’d gone to Stronghold. But this time, he was looking at her with much more intent. Tonight he was finally going to get his hands on her, maybe even put them all over her. She squirmed uncomfortably at his close scrutiny, but underneath her tank top her nipples were already hardening. The air between them seemed tight with tension. He could see her throat muscles work as she swallowed, obviously wanting to say something, but finding herself waiting for him instead. When he met her eyes again, they were wide and she was no longer just peeking at him, but actively waiting for what was going to happen next with bated breath.

“Hello gorgeous,” he finally said in a low voice. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips over hers, teasing her with the lightest of kisses. She tried to follow him back up as he straightened, but he reached out with one hand, placing it on her hip and keeping her in place. “Ready to go?”

For a moment he thought she was going to change her mind as something like fear flitted through her eyes, but then her expression firmed, and she nodded her head. Pulling on her hip, Rick turned, sliding his hand along her back and tucking her under his arm as they headed down the stairs.

“So uh... how was your day?” Maria asked after a minute. Rick laughed. She was so nervous and cute, trying to sound normal, like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

“Not too bad. I spent most of it helping out Justin,” he said, feeling her slowly relaxing under his arm as he told her about Justin’s current social media issues. Currently Justin was working with Adam’s employees and his temps on how to keep their social media private. It was mind-boggling how many people didn’t even bother to look up things like privacy settings, allowing the entire world to see what party they went to the weekend before. Not exactly something most people wanted a future employer to come across.

They chatted the entire way to Stronghold, which relaxed Maria at first, although he could sense her becoming more and more anxious again as they got closer to the club. By the time they arrived, she was practically vibrating in her seat. While Rick thought a bit of nervous energy was a good thing for a submissive, and perfectly normal in a new one, he didn’t want her to be too scared.

As she reached for the handle to open her door, Rick grabbed her other hand. “Maria.” With a blink of surprise, she let go of the door handle and turned her head to face him. “We aren’t going to do anything tonight you don’t want. You understand that right?”

“Um... I think so?”

Rick smiled, squeezing her hand. “Really. All you have to do is say ‘red’ and everything stops. I want us to talk more once we get inside, before we do anything. Patrick sent me your survey this morning and I’ve looked it over, but I think we’ll both feel better if we talk things through before your scene.”

“And if I say yellow?”

He smiled again. Someone had been doing her research.

“Then we slow things down and talk about them before I continue. I might occasionally make you uncomfortable and I might mix a little pain with pleasure, but I will never hurt you and I will always honor your safe word. Do you trust me?”

There was only the slightest hesitation before Maria nodded her head. All things considered, Rick decided it was only understandable she would be a bit hesitant. What was important was that she was still willing to try.

“Okay sweetheart. Let’s go in.”

Tension wrapped around her body again, but this time it had more excitement in it than fear, which was what Rick wanted to see. A little bit of fear was good, but excitement warring with fear was better.

Surprisingly, no one was standing at the entrance to the main room, but Lexie was at the front desk, looking kind of pissed about something, but when she saw Rick and Maria her entire demeanor perked up. She grinned at them, straightening in her chair. Tonight she was wearing a bright pink bra underneath an electric blue mesh shirt. Compared to some of the things she’d been wearing for a while, Rick was always grateful to see she was wearing underwear underneath her tops. At first that had freaked him and the other guys out, now it was a relief that she was mostly decently covered.

As if she could read his thoughts, Lexie narrowed her eyes at him a bit, but the smile she gave Maria was genuinely welcome.

“Hello again. I’m so glad you came back,” Lexie said as they came to the front desk to sign in.

“Hi um... glad to be here.”

Lexie laughed. “That sounded very convincing. I won’t hold you up here, although I may hunt you down later. Have a good evening.”

Just as they reached the door, it opened and Mistress Lisa stepped through. The Dommes only occasionally acted as the door guard, usually they preferred Dungeon Monitor duty when they were helping Patrick out. She looked startled for a moment, obviously not expecting anyone to have been standing outside, and then grinned. “Hello Rick.” Holding the door open, she made an elaborate sweeping gesture for them to pass her by as she winked at Maria. “Have a good evening.”

Inwardly groaning, Rick wished the club wasn’t such a hotbed of gossip sometimes. Did everyone know he was bringing Maria here tonight? Probably.

“Thank you,” Maria said, sweetly, still obviously nervous. Taking her by the hand, Rick pulled her past Lisa, giving the grinning Domme a short nod. Getting a clear view of the bar, he groaned out loud this time. He could sense Maria peeking around him to see what he was looking at. “What? Oh...”

Angel and Adam were there, along with Olivia, Liam and Hilary, and Andrew. Of course, Andrew was working bar, but he was still obviously watching for Rick and Maria’s entrance. As if on cue, they all waved. Rick growled under his breath.

He glanced down at Maria, who was now standing at his side rather than behind him, her fingers wrapped rather tightly around his. “Do you want to go say hi?”

“Yeah,” she said, relief flitting across her face. He tried not to feel hurt by her desire to delay their scene even further. Maybe talking to the others would help calm her. After all, it was partially Angel’s doing that Maria was even here tonight.

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