But none of that stopped him from lusting after the gorgeous redhead. When he’d seen a seat open next to her for the ceremony, he’d immediately claimed it - to her obvious annoyance. But she hadn’t moved, because she hadn’t been willing to give him that power over her. Which had been hot. Even just watching her walk through a room was sexy. She moved with complete confidence, like she owned the place, and the crowd parted before her as if compelled by sheer force of personality. Despite being shorter, slimmer, and less physically imposing than the Doms, people reacted to her in almost exactly the same way - and those who didn’t were treated to a death glare which had them scampering.

Yet she wasn’t mean. Well, she was kind of mean to him, in the most polite way possible which was also sexy to him for some reason, but he’d also observed her being incredibly kind. The other women obviously looked up to her, even the more independent ones, and she watched over them like a big sister. She was the one who kept an eye on everyone else, making sure they had everything they needed, with no one stepping up to take care of her needs.

Right now she was handing Angel a glass of water and Adam a beer, so they could have something to drink while being surrounded by well-wishers.

Luke pushed off the wall and sauntered over to the bar. Michael and Ellie were standing in line as well, cuddled up and being almost sickeningly cute. He couldn’t help but grin at the sight. Even though he’d only known Michael about a month, he’d seen Michael with Ellie and Michael without Ellie, and he definitely preferred the former. The two of them were good together, and Michael was obviously head over heels for the pretty, petite sub. She was wearing a dark red dress which matched the silver and red necklace on her throat; from the way she kept tenderly stroking it and the triumphantly possessive expression on Michael’s face whenever he looked at it, Luke was pretty sure it was more than just a necklace. From the research he’d been doing, quite a few people in the lifestyle wore collars that didn’t really look like collars.

As Luke approached, Michael looked up and grinned at him, straightening up with his hand in Ellie’s. “Hey Luke, glad you could make it.”

Ellie’s face was flushed, her eyes slightly glassy, and Luke was a little sad he’d missed whatever it was Michael had been whispering in her ear to make her look like that.

“Me too,” he said, glancing around the room again. Olivia was now talking to one of the catering waiters, pointing him towards the tables of food. “So ah... what does Olivia usually like to drink?”