Page 24 of Masters of Control

Sam

Glancing down at Q, she saw him shaking his head, a little smile on his lips at Mistress Julie’s speech. She didn’t really know Iris or Cassidy, but she’d heard the story. Poor Cassidy. Sam could only imagine how difficult it was to be in a club where everyone knew your business.

On the other hand, Cassidy was hardly the only one people talked about. Sometimes it seemed like Stronghold and Marquis ran on gossip. Granted, they didn’t always get things right, and it never seemed like malicious gossip, but it was part of the community.

“Okay, everyone, that’s it for tonight,” Master Law said, giving Mistress Julie a look that didn’t seem to faze her in the least.

Sam wondered if she’d ever be as unfazed by a Dom giving her a hard look or if that was something that would always affect her because she had a strong subbie side. She aspired to be more like Mistress Julie with her indifference to Master Law’s annoyance.

“Thanks for coming, and we’ll see the subs next week. Doms, you get the week off, but be back the week after and ready for some hands-on interaction.” Master Law grinned, his gaze falling to rest on Q.

Getting to his feet, Q appeared to either not notice or was ignoring the look Master Law had given him.

“Wanna go downstairs and get a drink?” he asked, his gaze solidly fixed on Sam.

“Sure.”

She’d kind of been hoping he’d ask. Which confused her even as she was relieved that he had. If she was the Dominant one, shouldn’t she ask? It was easier to let him do the asking when it came to anything outside of the class.

Was she being a bad Dominant?

Q slipped his hand in hers, distracting her, and she smiled. She’d dressed a little more conservatively today, no longer feeling like she needed to armor up around him. The dress she was wearing was still sexy and made her feel like a boss bitch, but it wasn’t a corset, and she could easily go straight downstairs to the Marquis bar without standing out. Which she’d planned on in case she and Q went down there after class.

She turned slightly to wave to the others. Noelle was busy talking to Master Leo, who she’d been paired with, but Emerson and Steve waved back to her. Since Noelle was deep in conversation with her class partner, Sam didn’t take it personally that the other woman didn’t see her.

“Have a good rest of the weekend?” Q asked as they walked downstairs. Sam stepped carefully. The heels on her boots were higher than she normally wore, and she didn’t want to trip and fall.

“I did. Got all the laundry done and everything.”

“Now that is an accomplishment.”

Sam giggled as they made their way through the hall into the restaurant portion. As usual it wasn’t too busy at this time on a Monday night, so they headed for what she was already starting to think of as ‘their’ corner of the bar. Shane came right over to take their drink order before making himself scarce.

“So…” The way Q said it made the single word a complete sentence.

“So...” Sam didn’t really know what else to say, either. She ran her finger around the top of her glass, tilting her head so she could see his face. A bit of a blush began to creep into her cheeks.

She was trying really hard not to think about Saturday night and how it had felt to be spanked, then cuddled. Or how it had felt to have him on his knees before her upstairs. Sure, it had been for class, but it wasn’t that hard to picture him in the same position somewhere they’d have more privacy… like her bedroom. Or even one of the private rooms upstairs.

It was a little embarrassing how much she was looking forward to when the class moved to the private rooms. She’d had a lot of fun in those rooms during her previous classes, sometimes with sex and sometimes without, but she hadn’t been interested in any of her partners the way she was with Q. Okay, maybe a small crush on Kincaid, but she’d sensed from the beginning that he didn’t feel the same way about her, so that had died down pretty quickly.

With Q, it was obvious he was just as attracted to her as she was to him. Not only that, but he liked her—like liked her—which made her feel like they were back in high school, except way better because they weren’t.

“Was my pose really that bad or what?” he asked.

“Or what.” Sam grinned at him. “Mistress Julie is a stickler for the positions. I thought you were fine. Though I didn’t mind seeing her give you a hard time.”

“At least it wasn’t Law. That’s what I kept telling myself.”

She laughed.

“Yeah, I can see where that would be pretty weird. You guys are pretty good friends?” She let her voice lilt up, turning it into a question. From what she knew about Q, he’d started coming to Stronghold and Marquis because of his friend Angel, but Sam saw him hanging out mostly with Law, Connor, and Asad.

“We’re getting there.” Q smiled, reaching out with his left hand to rest it on her knee.

It felt nice. Kind of possessive but without making her feel uncomfortable. Mostly, she wanted him to move it higher.

“It’s been good getting to know him, Connor, and Asad. My friend Angel was the one who convinced me to come to Stronghold, but she’s busy with her husband Adam and their baby. I’m friends with all of her friends who are also members, but they’re all in serious relationships, if they aren’t already engaged or married.”