Page 151 of Masters of Control

That made her laugh, and he smiled.

“Come on, who else can we hang out with?”

“Depends. Do you want the dirt on whatever’s going on with Rae and Damian?” His voice was hopeful.

Personally, Camille didn’t care, but she could tell Freddy did. She was also nosy enough to be curious, even though she didn’t know them. Distracting herself with other people’s drama didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world, and she wanted to see more of how Freddy maneuvered through his relationships in the club.

If she was going to have a relationship with him, it meant understanding how he operated in ‘his’ space. It came to how much he gave of himself and whether she’d ever need to step in. She was quickly coming to realize he not only felt responsible for the people in the clubs but that he struggled with not stepping in to fix things for them.

Freddy

Though he wasn’t sure it was the right decision, he was glad Mistress Camille was willing to spend some more time at Stronghold. With all the work he did at Marquis, he wasn’t able to visit Stronghold quite as much as he would have liked. Now that he was here again, he realized how much he missed it. The atmosphere. The people. The energy.

Every part of his backside ached and throbbed with the remembrance of their scene. He could walk without a problem, but movement came with a reminder that he’d just gotten a paddling and a pegging.

Making his way to the table where Law and Iris were talking to Master Asad and Master Connor, he smiled when they saw him and Mistress Camille coming and immediately made space. Since Master Kincaid had gone after Master Brian, and Master Mitch and Domi were nowhere to be seen, he figured Iris was probably the best source of information if he wanted to know about Rae and Master Damian.

“You two look like you had fun,” Master Asad said when they reached them. Master Connor smiled while Master Law shook his head, and Iris giggled. Pretty much the expected reactions from all of them. For all that he was a huge bear of a man and a Dom, Master Connor was very quiet most of the time and was much more like a teddy bear than a grumpy bear. Master Law was the grumpy bear, though Iris kept him smiling more often than not these days. The two of them were good for each other. She kept out of trouble now that she had a steady hand at the wheel, and he couldn’t be too serious with Iris around.

Master Asad, of course, was the funny man of the group. Golden retriever energy with the sex drive of a rabbit and a playfully sadistic side that left the submissives panting. He seemed to enjoy defying expectations.

“It’s been a good night,” Freddy said agreeably. He grinned at Mistress Camille, who smiled back at him.

“A very good night.” The warmth in her tone washed over him, almost as good as being called a ‘good boy.’

“How’s your night going?” he asked, turning back to the others, letting his concern show. “I saw Master Brian leaving.”

“Yeah…” Iris’ gaze cut to the dance floor. “Rae just came by to introduce her new boyfriend. He stuck around for the introduction, but I don’t think he felt like staying for the after show.”

Freddy’s eyes widened.

“Wait, they’re already boyfriend and girlfriend? Not just dating?” Though he shouldn’t be too surprised. Master Damian was something of a serial monogamist. He hadn’t been to the club for a while after his last breakup, but Freddy hadn’t expected him to move quite this fast upon his return… and definitely not with Rae.

Whether she wanted to admit it, Rae was the kind of sub who would thrive with a caretaker or service Dom. A Daddy Dom wasn’t that far off from what she needed, and that wasn’t Master Damian. He was a good, steady Dom, but his kinks tended more toward someone who took care of themselves outside of the bedroom, with no overlap. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but he expected his submissives to handle themselves and behave themselves without oversight from him, which worked for a lot of submissives.

He wasn’t sure it would work for Rae, but she would have to figure it out on her own.

“Yup, official as of yesterday.” Iris shrugged, but the worry in her dark eyes made it clear she didn’t feel confident about this new development either. “She seems happy.”

“Well, good.” Watching how this all played out would definitely be interesting. The conversation moved on to Domi and Mitch’s wedding planning, which led to Master Asad complaining about his need for a fake date for the upcoming wedding. His grumbling had both Mistress Camille and Freddy cracking up.

Apparently, his mom had decided to take matters into her own hands when it came to finding a good match for him, which led to him telling her he had a girlfriend, and of course, she’d be at the wedding with him… and that was that. He didn’t seem to know that Lexie had picked out Morgan for him, which was interesting, so Freddy kept his mouth shut.

Heading to the bar to get a second drink for himself and Mistress Camille—things were getting a little packed, and he wanted to say hi to Andrew again—Freddy came to a sudden halt when Noelle popped up in front of him. Her wide, imploring eyes met his, and her tongue darted out to lick her lip as if nervous.

“Hi, Freddy… um, I’m Noelle, I’m not sure if you remember me.”

“Of course, I do. Is everything okay?” He asked automatically, partly because he couldn’t think of any other reason why she would approach him and partly because there was something about her demeanor that made her seem distressed.

She sniffled as tears filled her eyes at his words.

“Well… I’ve heard you’re the person to go to when any of us submissives are having a problem.” She paused, looking up at him as though she was waiting for him to respond.

Freddy nodded, not sure where she was going with this, but was very curious. If she did have a problem, he would want to help, though as far as he knew, she hadn’t been having trouble with any of the club’s Doms. She hadn’t played with very many of them, but there hadn’t been any complaints or drama. However, he also missed things being at Marquis most of the time.

Her voice lowered. “I’m being bullied.”

“You are?” Indignation rose up inside him. No, he didn’t particularly like her, and for good reason, but that didn’t mean he’d condone bullying, especially not in the club. “Who?”