Chapter 15

15

Connor

Stronghold looked like it always did inside, even though he felt different. The huge main room didn't look much like a warehouse other than the size. A long wooden bar ran along one side of the room on the right, accompanied by high-top tables and chairs. To the left, before reaching the various doors for the main office and the locker rooms, was a small sitting section known as ‘the Lounge.'

The Lounge was where the unpartnered submissives hung out, or sometimes, they had a partner, but they were hanging out with their friends there. The bar was where the Doms hung out before and after a scene unless they were spending time with a sub. Couples—or polyam groups—usually took over the bar tables between the two spaces.

When he and Julie walked in, his gaze went to the tables because that's where his friends were usually located. It only took him a moment to find Law, Asad, and Q—but it did take a moment because he was so used to looking for their partners with them. He didn't see Morgan's distinctive red or Sam's honey blonde. Iris was shorter, and her darker hair didn't stand out quite as much, but he was so used to seeing her by Law's side, he didn't see Law right away.

In fact, there were almost no submissives on that side of the room at all.

That was weird.

"One of us!"

Connor blinked and turned his head to the Lounge. It was full of the missing submissives, with Iris, Sam, and Morgan standing at the front of them, beaming at him. Beside them were more submissives he knew, some he'd scened with, some he hadn't. Freddy was there along with an entire contingent of male submissives, including Luke—Mistress Olivia's fiancé, who rarely came into Stronghold these days.

"One of us! One of us!"

He stood there, not knowing what to do as the entire crowd surged forward en masse. Despite the loud chanting, he could still hear Mistress Julie's peal of laughter as she let go of his hand, letting the submissives surround him. The guys hung back a bit, but the others all wrapped him up in a hug, still chanting.

"One of us! One of us!"

Something was lodged in his throat. His eyes burned.

Fuck.

He was going to fucking cry.

Everything hurt, and he didn't know why.

It shouldn't hurt.

But he just hadn't expected…

He hadn't thought…

Now, he was surrounded by chanting submissives, all of them so damn happy for him, even though he'd been lying to them—lying to himself—and they accepted him completely. Fully.

Enthusiastically.

The sob lodged in his throat welled up, and he bowed his head, closing his eyes.

"Aw!" It was a big group ‘aw' that echoed through the room.

"Okay, everyone, get back. Connor needs a minute. Thank you for the warm welcome." Mistress Julie's voice cut through the din, followed a moment later by the woman herself as she took her place at his side again. No longer hampered by hugging everyone, Connor was able to lift his hands to his face, covering it while he tried to compose himself.

He didn't know why he was so choked up.

Memories pushed at him. The fearful looks he'd gotten in high school just walking down the hallways. The way he'd always been chosen first for dodgeball, and the other team had always been afraid. The weight of expectations that had hampered him from the moment of his first growth spurt in ninth grade when he'd shot up above the rest of his classmates, towering above even his teachers.

Always trying to make himself smaller. Always trying to make himself less intimidating. Always trying to make himself acceptable.

Here he was in Stronghold, showered with acceptance, and all he'd had to do was show up as fully himself.

"Sit," Mistress Julie ordered, and his knees buckled. Thankfully, someone had actually placed one of the high-top chairs behind him, so he didn't have far to go. He heaved in a breath as she rubbed slow circles on his back, trying to get himself under control.

Crying in public had not been on his agenda today.

"Sorry, Connor, are you okay?" That was Iris, her voice a little tremulous, as if she was afraid she'd done something wrong. He couldn't bring himself to look up yet, but he nodded, moving one of his hands away from his face so he could give her a thumbs-up, which made her giggle.

"I don't think he was expecting that kind of welcome," Mistress Julie said, her voice low and soothing against his rattling nerves.

"Aw, but… of course we wanted to welcome him. He's done so much for… all of us." That was Emery, a non-binary submissive who he'd done aftercare for several times. Connor nearly choked again. He hadn't done anything he wasn't supposed to as a Dom.

Of course, he'd wanted to take care of them. That's what Doms did. And subs took care of their Doms. Everyone was supposed to take care of everyone.

But not everyone does , whispered a little voice in his head.

And he knew that was true, too.

He still didn't think he'd done anything out of the ordinary, though. At least his fears about being rejected by everyone were assuaged. There had been no mistaking the genuine welcome, the sincerity in their happiness that he was now one of them. It wasn't something he could explain away. It wasn't something he could deny. And he didn't know what to do with it.

So, it all came leaking out his fucking eyeballs.

He was so damn happy.

"We just wanted him to know we're happy he figured out what he wants," Iris said earnestly. She sounded so worried that she'd done something wrong, Connor couldn't take it anymore. He lifted his head, opening his arms as he did so, and Iris rushed in for a hug.

Behind her, Law was standing there—his hand in the air from where it had been on her shoulder. He grinned at Connor, and his own eyes looked suspiciously watery, so at least Connor wasn't the only one. Beside him, Emery looked worried, and Connor waved at them, too, so they could come in for a hug.

Which started a hug stampede.

"Hey! Ack!" Mistress Julie protested as she was inadvertently caught up in the middle of the hug, too. She started laughing. "Okay, subbies, back up again!"

"Cuddle puddle!" Angel, one of the submissives, sang out the words as she threw herself into the mix, drowning out Mistress Julie's order. Squeals met her announcement, and everyone squeezed in tight, making Mistress Julie groan again. She was laughing too hard to say anything, though.

"Okay, everyone, back up. Let them breathe," Law barked out the order, managing to make himself heard over all the squeals. This time, everyone actually dispersed, giving them some real space. Connor took in a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" Mistress Julie asked, softly enough that probably only he, Iris, and Morgan could hear it since they were still right beside him.

"Great." He choked on the word, trying to get it out. He really was. He was just a little emotional. Taking a deep breath, he wrestled his emotions back under control, surreptitiously wiping his eyes and looking up to see what was going on.

The subbies had all returned to the Lounge, though some of them had spread out to the rest of the bar, especially if they had a partner. Or partners. Off to the side, Angel was arguing with her husband, Master Adam, about something. Probably the fact that she'd ignored Mistress Julie's order and started the second big squeeze. Though Connor thought she probably hadn't heard it, he wasn't surprised Master Adam had. He also wasn't surprised when, a moment later, Master Adam flipped her over his shoulder and carried her off toward the stairs to the Dungeon.

He had to shake his head when she started tapping out a beat on his leather-covered ass like it was a bongo drum set. That subbie liked to push her limits and get into trouble. Even the answering sharp swat to her own ass didn't stop her.

Amy sent him a thumbs-up when he looked her way, followed by several other subbies who did the same. Freddy and the other male subs were hanging out off to the side, and they all grinned and waved when he looked their way. Even Luke, who Connor had never really sat down to have a conversation with.

He felt like he'd just been welcomed into a special club.

"Well, we didn't mean to make you cry," Iris said a little mournfully as Law came up beside her, slinging his arm around her shoulders. "We just wanted you to know… you know."

"I know." He was thankful she didn't actually try to explain because he might have started tearing up again. There had already been more than enough of that tonight. Connor liked to think he was evolved enough not to think there was anything wrong with showing emotion or crying, but that didn't mean he liked doing it when everyone was watching him.

"It was very appreciated," Mistress Julie said, rubbing his back. "Now… how about we go over to the bar and get a drink."

That sounded good to him.

Julie

There was a constant revolving door of people stopping to speak to Connor while they were at the bar. Not just the submissives, but the Doms as well. Most of them just stopping to say hi, giving a show of support with their greeting before moving on. As the evening went on, Connor got more and more relaxed. It did make conversation with him difficult, so she was glad they'd gone on a date before coming here.

Several of the Dommes stopped by to talk to her, too, casting curious glances at Connor. She didn't blame them for their curiosity, but she couldn't help but bristle a little. Apparently, she was feeling a little territorial, even though she had no reason to think he was interested in anyone but her.

Still, it was their first time publicly at the club. Once people got used to seeing them together, got used to him as a submissive, all the interest would die down. Hopefully, her possessiveness would as well.

"So, Julie, tell me about yourself." Asad sent a winning smile her way, which made her snort. He was a charmer, all right. At least, he certainly thought so. Next to him, Morgan elbowed him in the side. The look he shot her way was full of heat. "Behave, Red."

She wrinkled her nose at him.

Damn, they were cute together.

"What do you want to know?" Julie asked, amused, when Asad finally turned back to her. Beside her, Q and Sam were involved in a conversation with Connor and a male submissive named Steve, who had come over to say hi. On her other side, Law was now watching her and Asad's exchange. Iris was, too, though she was openly grinning while Law was harder to read.

Julie still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about her and Connor hooking up. It was one thing to accept Connor as a submissive, another to accept two of his closest friends dating. Though if things did end up going south between her and Connor, she was going to do her level best to make sure it didn't affect any of the friendships.

"Oh, you know… any crazy exes in the past we need to watch out for… if you were ever the crazy ex… if you have a police record… all that kind of stuff." He winked at her, but his tone was semi-serious. It was always hard to tell with Asad. Julie's lips quirked.

"Not as far as I know." The answer to all three questions. John wasn't crazy. Her family might be. But Asad hadn't asked about them. "How about you? Because I'm pretty sure I remember something about getting arrested after stealing a goat."

"It was supposed to be a high school senior prank! Who calls the cops on the high school senior prank?" He shook his head. "Besides, that's been expunged." Beside him, Morgan's mouth had dropped open.

"I didn't know you got arrested for stealing a goat! Why would you steal a goat?"

"Because it was our rival high school's mascot." Asad shrugged, though he looked a little sheepish. "They stole our mascot's uniform, so we stole their mascot. It was only a small escalation." He looked over at Julie. "How did you even know about that?"

"I have my ways," she replied airily, making a mental note to ask Olivia for more dirt on Asad. If he was going to give her a hard time, even jokingly, she was going to dish it right back.

With his kind of personality, he'd probably just respect her more for it.

"Hey, Connor… can I ask a favor?" The question, asked by a deep, masculine voice, grabbed Julie's attention.

"Sure, what's up?" Connor replied to Master Will.

"Do you mind taking my Dungeon Monitor shift tomorrow night? Sorry about the late notice. Gina's mom needs some help tomorrow, and while they could do it with the baby there, it?—"

"But I'm a sub," Connor interrupted, sounding a little shocked. Will stared at him.

"You're still you, man."

Connor opened his mouth. Closed it. Julie gave him a nudge. If he wanted to take the shift, he should. It might go a long way to showing him that nothing had really changed. There was a part of her that was a little sad, though. They hadn't discussed getting together tomorrow, but now that it wasn't going to be a possibility, she wished they had.

Still. At least she'd know where he was. She could always come by. Dungeon Monitor duties didn't take all night.

"Um, yeah. I can cover for you."

"Thanks, appreciate it." Will clapped Connor on the shoulder and walked away.

It wasn't until he was moving away from the table that Julie frowned. Sure, Will could have asked Connor because he realized Connor was struggling with being publicly a submissive and wanted to show him that things hadn't changed, but she wasn't sure Will and Connor knew each other that well. Would Will have realized that was going to be a problem?

She looked around at the other Doms at the table.

"What's wrong?" Law asked, frowning back at her.

"Just trying to figure out why Will only asked Connor to cover for him, instead of asking if any of you were available." Any one of them could have served as Dungeon Monitor tomorrow, including her.

"Oh, everyone always asks Connor because he never says no," Asad replied easily. Julie blinked, turning to look at Connor, who shrugged.

"I don't mind helping out."

Hm. She was going to have to poke at that further. There wasn't anything wrong with helping out, but she also didn't want anyone taking advantage of her submissive's giving nature. At least she knew this was a long-running thing and not because people knew he was submissive and, therefore, thought he'd say yes.

Having Will ask did seem to make Connor happy, though, so she'd leave it alone.

For now.