Chapter 8

8

Julie

"Oh my God, Law, leave me alone!" Apparently, finding out one of his best friends was submissive meant that all of Law's protective busybody ways had been transferred from her to Connor. She almost missed the days when he was freaking out about her secret admirer.

Sadly, she hadn't even gotten the joy of seeing his reaction, though she'd laughed over Connor's description of it—and laughed even harder when he'd told her about the pegging conversation. While it shouldn't be funny because there was nothing at all wrong with being pegged or enjoying anal sex as a dominant, something about the idea of Iris pegging Law had cracked her up.

"I'm just asking what your plans are for tonight," Law replied irritably, as if it were perfectly reasonable for one dominant to question another about an upcoming scene for no reason.

"And I told you to mind your business. Twice now." Putting her hands on her hips, she glared at him from across their desks, tapping her foot impatiently. Connor was going to be there soon, and she wanted to meet him for dinner—downstairs in Marquis' main restaurant tonight. They were going to eat there, then go straight up to the room she'd reserved for them, skipping the show.

"You can't blame me for being protective." Law bristled. "Connor has never submitted before. He's completely new to this. And he's… well, sometimes, he's not very good about speaking up for himself. If he was, he wouldn't have hidden the fact he's submissive for so long."

It bothered Law, Julie suddenly realized, that Connor had kept that a secret. It wasn't the secret admirer stuff, and Connor had already mentioned that Law didn't seem to care that he'd used things Law had told him to send her gifts—it bothered Law that his friend hadn't felt comfortable sharing his revelation. He didn't like thinking that he'd made Connor feel like he couldn't come to him.

So now, he was going overboard on the protectiveness, probably partially in a bid to show support to Connor. It was cute in a wildly frustrating way, which summed up Law as a person.

Julie decided to unbend. Just a little.

"We're going to have dinner, then I've reserved the shoe room." Also known as the foot fetish room. Julie didn't have much of a foot fetish, but she had a bit of a shoe one… at least, when it came to trying on very cute, very pretty, or very expensive shoes. Since she didn't know Connor's preferences, and it had been the only room open for tonight, it seemed like a good enough place to start.

The rest of the room was well equipped for anyone who wasn't into feet or shoes, including a queening throne if she felt so inclined. She'd also asked for one of the wooden frames she preferred when using the flogger to be moved into the room. Even though she hadn't known Connor was submissive, she hadn't been able to miss how often he'd shown up for her flogging demonstrations.

Was it because he wanted to be flogged?

She was going to find out tonight.

Law frowned.

"That's all you have planned? Shoes? I don't know if he's into that."

Oh, for Pete's sake.

She frowned back at him fiercely enough, he had the sense to look abashed, averting his gaze after a short moment.

"I'm sure I can figure out what a submissive is interested in on my own, thank you, Master Law." Heavy sarcasm laced her tone, making him shift uncomfortably. Especially when she called him Master Law since she wasn't doing it to be deferential—they'd become good friends, and using the honorific was a way of verbally distancing herself from him and reminding him that he wasn't above her.

"Sorry," he muttered again.

"The overprotective mother-henning has to stop. If you want to go mother hen someone, go find Iris." Not that Iris would take that well, either, but she'd respond by bratting, then Law could beat on her ass a little to get some of his anxiety out, and they'd both be happy. "Or I could go find Iris and give her some pointers about pegging."

Law gaped at her.

It was a bit of a low blow, but at least it had the desired effect.

The phone on her desk rang, and she immediately picked it up, grateful for the distraction.

"Hello?"

"Mistress Julie, your date is here." Freddy practically trilled the words, obviously happy to be able to say them. A smile immediately tried to appear on her lips, which wasn't going to help her intimidate Law, so she pushed it back.

"Thank you, Freddy, I'll be right out." Putting down the phone, she glared at Law, hands on her hips. "Connor is here. I'm going to my date. Any last words?"

The right answer was ‘no.'

He hesitated for a moment before sighing.

"Go have fun. Take care of him, okay?"

"I'll make sure he has a great night," Julie said firmly. She really hoped that whatever happened between her and Connor didn't affect her friendship with Law. That was something she hadn't really considered when Connor had revealed himself. Although Connor had been worried about his friendship, she'd assumed Law would understand that he needed to keep his nose out of their business.

Obviously, she'd assumed wrong.

Sighing, she made her way out of the office, letting her smile bloom on her face as she stepped into the lobby of Marquis. Connor was standing by the front desk, talking with Freddy and Tori, another submissive who sometimes worked the desk. Both of them were beaming at him, and he appeared relaxed, though he was smiling rather than the one talking. Which wasn't surprising.

Tonight, he was wearing a nice pair of jeans that fit him like a glove and a button-down forest green shirt that looked like he might burst out of it if he flexed too hard. Julie appreciated the visual. The buttons weren't straining across his chest, but the shirt certainly wasn't loose, either.

It was a very different look from last week since they were eating downstairs rather than upstairs.

Julie was wearing one of her favorite date dresses, a bright emerald-green silk that cut low in front and had a slit up the front. The slit was really only visible when she walked, where it flirted around her thighs. With her hair pulled up high and back and her makeup on point, she felt sexy as hell, and when Connor looked up to see her coming toward him and his eyes widened, drinking in the sight of her, it felt like confirmation.

Lifting her chin, she sashayed right up to him and smiled. Did she have to tilt her head back to do so? Yes. Did she feel any less powerful? No. Not when the expression on his face was one of pure worship.

"Hello, Connor."

"Mistress." He said the word as though he savored it, filling her chest with warmth, his eyes still eating her up.

Yeah, whatever hard time Law gave her, she had a feeling Connor was going to be worth it.

Reaching out to take his hand, she slid her slim fingers through his giant ones. At some point, she would very much like to know what those fingers would feel like inside of her. Maybe even sometime tonight.

Hand securely tucked in his, Julie turned to smile serenely at Freddy and Tori, who were watching them with starry eyes. This was one of the reasons she'd decided to have their first evening together here at Marquis rather than at Stronghold.

"Thank you, Freddy. We'll be back up later." Turning away from the front desk, she only had to tug Connor's hand a little to get him moving. He gave Freddy and Tori a little wave as they went.

Julie didn't have to turn around to know the two were immediately bending their heads together to discuss her and Connor. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could hear the whispering. Amused, she led Connor down the stairs to the main dining room, where they entered through the back of the restaurant and made their way to the hostess stand.

The restaurant was packed, but thankfully, the acoustics were such that conversation was still possible without yelling. Julie had always appreciated the design of the restaurant—there were so many bare-bones places now where it was hard to actually talk if the tables were filled up because everyone's voices just echoed against the walls and ceiling.

Not that she and Connor were doing much talking yet. Other than greeting each other, they didn't say another word till they were seated at a corner booth. Julie detected Olivia's hand in the table selection, even though the Domme wasn't anywhere in sight.

The corner booth meant they were seated next to each other in a way, but they could also see each other. They could hold hands if they wanted to, while watching each other talk. It wasn't as awkward as sitting on the same side of the table and also far more intimate than sitting on opposite sides of the table.

"Have you eaten down here before?" she asked as they picked up their menus.

"Yes, but it's been a while. I've met Law here for dinner a few times." Connor looked down at the menu, seemingly a little nervous.

"I haven't," Julie admitted, which made him look up at her in surprise. "At least, not for dinner down here in the dining room. I've come to brunch, and I've been to the bar a few times around happy hour, but this is the first time I've actually eaten in the dining room."

"I would have thought you'd eat down here all the time."

"I think it's one of those things where you don't often do the things that are closest to you." She grinned at him. "Like living right outside DC, but never having been to the top of the Washington Monument."

"You've never been to the top of the Washington Monument?" It wasn't the first time that admission had garnered a slightly horrified reaction, and it made her laugh every time.

It also got the conversation rolling through the server coming to take their food and drink orders as they compared notes on what local features they'd never actually been to. While Connor had done the Washington Monument, he'd never been to the Cherry Blossom Festival—which was one of Julie's favorite things to do every year—and neither of them had gotten around to visiting the Spy Museum. However, Connor did admit that was because he'd never been particularly interested in spies. His favorite museum was the Air and Space Museum, while Julie preferred the art galleries. Though, she did admit that she liked the IMAX movies the Air and Space Museum showed.

It was the most she'd ever heard Connor talk in one sitting, in part because she didn't allow him to just sit back and listen to her. She wasn't a huge talker herself, though she could hold her own, and she wanted to know as much about him as he did about her. It was only fair.

Talking about all the places they'd been turned the conversation to their families, who had taken them to such places. By the time their food arrived, they were comparing notes once they found out they were both only children.

"I have a huge family. My mom is one of four, my dad is one of five, and all my aunts and uncles decided to have multiple kids. I was an only child in most ways, but not in others since I was always spending time with my cousins." She smiled at the memories since it was her cousins she'd gone down to visit the museums with.

"My mom was an only child and so was my dad, so no cousins for me. I have some second cousins that I met a few times. Or… cousins once removed?" Connor shook his head. "We just called them my cousins, even though they weren't, really."

"Were you lonely?" Considering what an introvert he was, her heart ached at the idea of a lonely little boy.

"Sometimes, but not usually. Somehow, I always got adopted into a group of friends. Someone always took pity on me and pulled me in to hang out with them and their friends." He said it so matter-of-fact, but she couldn't help noticing that he didn't call them his group of friends. It was someone else's group of friends he got to hang out with—an important distinction that explained a lot about why he'd been so nervous to tell his friends about his crush on her.

Did he think they weren't really his friends, but actually someone else's who he also got to spend time with?

"Who brought you into your current group?" she asked. Maybe it was Law, and that was why he was so protective.

"Asad."

Well, there went that theory. But it was interesting. She wondered if knowing how protective Law was of him would help Connor realize that his friends valued him for him.

"Asad is definitely an extrovert. I feel like he's done that with quite a few of his friends." She smiled at him. "Olivia did something similar with me and Camille. She just decided we were going to be friends, and the next thing I knew, we're having regular lunches together."

He laughed, which made her smile widen.

"That's kind of how it was with me and Asad and Law. Then Q started hanging out with us, too."

"You know, Law was laying down the law with me before this evening," she said teasingly, making light of it, but she wanted him to know that Law had been concerned about him.

"Laying down the law?" He blinked, looking up in confusion.

"About you. He wanted to make sure that I treat you right."

Unfortunately, her joke didn't quite land the way she intended it to. Instead of laughing or being reassured about his friend, Connor frowned.

"He thought you would treat me badly? You'd never do that. He shouldn't have said that." The defensiveness in his voice surprised her. On one level, she was pleased because she was happy that Connor would defend her; on another level, she really had been joking and didn't want to cause trouble between him and Law.

"He didn't really think that. He's just protective." She raised her eyebrow at him, smiling, trying to keep it light so he knew she wasn't bothered. "I believe you experienced a bit of that when I was getting notes from a secret admirer. And I certainly didn't need his protectiveness then, either."

That seemed to be a good comparison because Connor's shoulders immediately came down as he relaxed.

"Oh. Yeah, he does get a little overprotective."

"Of people he cares about? Absolutely." She wasn't sure if it was a direct hit, but she hoped it was. "He also seemed a little concerned because I reserved the shoe room for us tonight. It was the one that was open, but… just in case, do you have anything against shoes?"

Connor considered the question, chewing on his mouthful of steak as he did so. She took a bite of her own dinner while she waited for his answer.

"I don't think so," he said finally. "I've never really done much with shoes. Or feet. I don't have anything against them."

"Good." Speaking of feet, she slid one of hers over to rub against the inside of his calf. Connor blinked and tensed again, but this time, it was the good kind of tension. "Then we'll see where the night goes."

They could experiment with her feet and his fingers.