The way her hand tightened around his when he gave his warning made him think she liked that idea. Michael didn’t always indulge in orgasm play, but with Ellie he wanted to. It was one of the few orders he could give her which extended his reach outside of the club – and it also guaranteed she’d be thinking about him. Pleasure came from him. Not only was it more satisfying for him that way, but it was a good method of positive-association training.

When he walked her out to her car, he gave her a kiss on her forehead and sent her off, watching as she drove away. The air was getting cooler at night, with just a little bit of a bite to the chill, so he turned around once she’d exited the parking lot and headed down the street. Even though he was wearing his leathers and a matching vest, his bare arms were definitely feeling the chill.

Instead of going back into the club, he stopped at the front desk where Traci was sitting.

“Can you see if Patrick has a few minutes to talk?” he asked.

“Sure,” she chirped up at him with a bubbly smile. Traci was a sweet subbie, but she never played with the sadists. Picking up the phone, she dialed back to Patrick’s office and after a quick conversation put the phone back down, still smiling. “Go right on in.”

“Thanks.”

As usual, Patrick was behind his desk with Lexie sitting on her cushion next to it, naked and looking blissful as she leaned her head against his thigh while his hands stroked through her hair. Michael smiled, he always enjoyed the connection between the two of them. Considering he’d been the one to help Lexie push her way into the club and therefore push Patrick into finally training her as a submissive and eventually becoming his submissive, he had a little bit of a fairy godmother feeling about their relationship.

“Everything okay?” Patrick asked as soon as Michael shut the door behind him. “Are you ending the contract already?”

The question was so unexpected, Michael barked out a laugh. “No. Thankfully. I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had for Marquis.”

An idea which had been slowly forming throughout the day ever since Ellie had woken up and been upset she was in his bed. Plus, it was an idea which would further serve to set Marquis apart from Stronghold. It wouldn’t be for everyone, but that was okay... the people who took advantage of it would enjoy.

Patrick nodded at the chair across the desk from him. “By all means.”