Mastering Lexie (Stronghold Book 4) (35 page)

She could do
that.  Her feelings for him were already serious, so why not act like
it?  Pussy-footing around the issue and just dating were kind of silly,
but she'd just been worried that he would regret moving so quickly. 
Especially considering how long he'd been putting her off.  Apparently it
was either nothing or full steam ahead with him.  Then again, she didn't
know why she'd thought it would be anything different.

A smile spread
on her face, and he immediately relaxed as he took in her expression.  He
swept his thumb across her cheek, caressing, and Lexie almost sighed with
happiness.  

"I'm okay
with that.  So does that mean I'm moving in?" she asked, teasing.

"If you
want to," he said, unperturbed, as he dropped his hands away from her face
and turned to go finish his packing.  Lexie's jaw dropped open.  

"We
haven't even had sex yet!"

"Of
course not," he said, his tone completely reasonable.  She narrowed
her eyes at him, and when he looked up at her, his hands full of his clothes,
his eyes were twinkling with mirth.  "I need to plan that scene much
more carefully."

She rolled her
eyes.

"That's
two."

"Two
what?"

"Two
swats for your bedtime spanking."

She should protest. 
She should tell him no fucking way, since it's not like they'd gone over rules.

Instead, her
pussy clenched, and she shut her mouth while she sat down at the foot of his
bed to watch him finish packing up his bag.  The entire time, her heart
felt like it was floating.

By the time
Lexie woke up the next morning, Patrick was already awake, dressed and had
coffee and breakfast ready for her.  Not because he wanted to pamper her,
although it was that too, but because her mattress was too soft.  He
hadn't been able to get comfortable all night.  It was fine for a petite
lightweight like her, but he'd sunk right in.

The only
upside to the bed rut he'd created had been Lexie had rolling practically on
top of him in the middle of the night.

The downside
had been that they'd both been completely naked and he hadn't been able to act
out any of his perverted fantasies on her.  She'd been exhausted when
they'd gone to bed and had to work early, and so he'd controlled himself. 
Besides, she hadn't even stirred when she'd rolled onto him.

Controlling
himself had never sucked so fucking much.

Her bed had a
pretty good view right into the little galley kitchen, so he was watching when
she finally rolled over, blinking the sleep from her eyes as the alarm on her
phone blared.  Short clumps of black hair stuck out every which way,
answering his question of what her hair did in the morning.  It was
adorable, although he doubted that she'd agree.  Unfortunately, it also
made her look incredibly young, which gave him a little pang, but that was just
something he was going to have to get used to.  He was always going to be
eight years older than her, which really wasn't a huge difference in the grand
scheme of things.  Not anymore.  

The way she
looked at him when she realized he was standing there, in the tiny kitchen,
wearing nothing but his boxers, erased any lingering hesitation on his
part.  It was like she'd woken up to discover it was unexpectedly
Christmas, and unabashed joy lit up of her face, followed quickly by a blush as
she realized she was in bed completely naked.  Seeing Lexie feeling shy
was both unexpected and endearing.

"Good
morning," he said, putting down his cup of coffee so that he could pour
her one.  It was a good thing she was such a sound sleeper, although he
hadn't made anything more complicated than scrambled eggs and coffee. 
Still, a lot of people would have woken up anyway, since there was no barrier
between the kitchen and the rest of the apartment to muffle the sounds of
cooking.  Lexie hadn't even rolled over.

"Morning,"
she mumbled, sitting up and turning so that her feet were hanging off the bed,
clutching the sheet to her chest with one hand.  The other hand went
straight to her hair, as if she knew it was a mess, running her fingers through
her locks and trying to tame them.  Patrick approached with her coffee,
raising his eyebrow.

"Feeling
shy this morning, Pixie?"

"Coffee,"
she answered in a pleading tone of voice, holding out the hand that had been
finger-combing her hair.  Grinning, Patrick handed it over.  He knew
that it took at least a cup for her to start functioning normally.  The
blissful sigh after her first sip made his grin widen.  Sometimes she was
so predictable. 

Turning his
back, he let her come to terms with what had happened last night and his
presence in her home this morning now that she had woken up.  Waking up
with her in his arms this morning had been something to savor, and he'd lain in
bed for at least half an hour, just enjoying it (despite the mattress) before
getting up.  He didn't doubt that she'd need her own time to wrap her mind
around the situation.  It was strange, going from being friends and
completely hands off, to in a relationship overnight. 

Still, he
didn't regret it.  

Now that he
could have her, now that he was fairly sure they would work together, he didn't
want to wait.  Doing her training, getting a small taste of what a
relationship between them would be like, had only made him more impatient.

"Thank
you for making breakfast."  

Patrick turned
to see Lexie standing there, hair still on end and coffee cup in hand. 
His t-shirt hung loosely on her small frame, the same one that she'd worn home
last night.  As much as he would have liked to see her naked, he knew that
completely naked with a hot cup of coffee was not always the best idea. 
Hence, the boxers he was currently wearing.  Small protection, but
something was better than nothing, just in case.

"You're
welcome."

A little smile
played across her face as he dished her eggs onto a plate.  "You keep
making me food.  I'm starting to feel like a slacker submissive."

"There
will be plenty of time for you to cook for me," he said, handing her the
plate and a fork.  Putting his hands on her hips, he turned her around and
gently pulled her back against him.  With a little sigh, she softened and
leaned into his body as he slid his hands around her waist so that she could
eat while in the circle of his arms.

Resting his
chin on top of her head, he relished the feel of her against him, the curve of
her ass against his thighs, and the softness of her body under his hands. 
Part of him wanted to keep her there with him all day.  Now that she was
his, he didn't want to let her out of his sight, but he knew that wasn't
possible.  She needed to go to work, and he had things to do, including a
bit of shopping that he'd rather do on his own.  

"Are you
on birth control, Pixie?" he asked.  He was fairly certain she was,
but it would affect his shopping trip if she wasn't.  There were a few
condoms in his bedside table at home, but not nearly enough for what he'd need
this week.

"Yeah,
I'm on the shot."

"Good."
 

Twisting
slightly, she looked up at him.  "Does this mean we can have sex
now?" she asked, teasing.

Patrick kissed
her forehead.  "No."  She let out an exasperated sigh and
turned back to her half-full plate of food.  "You'd better not be
rolling your eyes again."

He'd given her
two hard spanks last night, laying her across his lap before bed. 
Something which had frustrated her, because afterwards he'd just slid back into
the bed, pulling her with them and, after a soft goodnight kiss, told her to go
to sleep.  Even though she’d been exhausted, she’d been more than willing
to stay awake to further their physical relationship, to phrase it nicely. 

However, he
hadn't been kidding when he'd said he wanted more time to plan the scene. 
He wanted it to be special.  Besides, even though he wanted her to become
his submissive immediately, that didn't mean he thought they should have sex
immediately.  Anticipation made the pleasure sweeter, and Lexie needed to
know that she couldn't push him into doing everything she wanted, when she
wanted it.  

"Of
course not, Sir," she sassed.  Patrick smacked her thigh, making her
jump a bit.

"Ow!"

"That
didn't actually hurt."

"It
stung."

"Then
don't sass me."

Lexie grumbled
under her breath.  "Like that's ever going to happen."

Since she
couldn't see his expression, he grinned.  Bending his head down to whisper
in her ear, he could feel her tensing slightly beneath his hands.
 "Why do you think I like you so much, sweetheart?  Now finish
your breakfast."

To his
satisfaction, she did without protest, and he got to hold her while she
ate.  This was what he wanted.  A soft, submissive woman in his arms
in the morning, doing exactly what he told her to, with an occasional side of
sass that would end in punishment.  They'd probably have their differences
on occasion, with Lexie it was practically a guarantee, but at least now he
could spank any brattiness out of her when the situation called for it.  

It didn't take
them long to get ready to go.  He could tell that Lexie was a bit nervous
about having him there, moving around in her space, but she liked it too. 
They both took every opportunity to touch each other, although some of her
touches were intentionally seductive.  As if they had time for anything
when she had to get to work.  Patrick ended up giving her ass a sharp
smack so that she would concentrate on brushing her teeth instead of pressing
her butt against his growing erection.

"When you
get home, pack an overnight bag and then come over," he said as they got
ready to leave, hefting his own bag onto his shoulder.  "Pack
something to wear to Stronghold tomorrow too, so that you can come right over
after work."

"I'm not
scheduled for tomorrow," she said, looking stubborn.

"You're
not scheduled at all, you quit remember?  You won't be there to work,
you'll be there as my submissive.  I'm not going to be re-hiring you, but
I want you at Stronghold whenever I'm there, unless you have something else to
do."

"Oh..."
 A little light dawned behind her eyes, and a pink blush spread through
her cheeks.  "So everyone's going to know?"

"Everyone's
going to know."

She beamed up
at him, her smile radiant.  

Reaching out,
Patrick stroked his fingers over her cheek and into her hair, unable to resist
the temptation to lean down and kiss her when she looked like that.  Their
tongues tangled, heat surged, and he fought back the impulse to say fuck
responsibility, pick her up and carry her back to the bed.  Instead, he
reluctantly pulled away.

"Come on,
Pixie.  You need to get to work, and I have things to do today."

"What
things?"

"Dom
things."  This time the smack he gave her ass was completely playful
as he propelled her out the door.  She bounced out in front of him like an
energetic puppy.  Amazing the change a couple cups of coffee could make.

Or maybe it
wasn't the coffee at all.  Just having spent his morning with her, even
though it was far earlier than he usually woke up, he had a hell of a lot more
energy than he usually did.  Happiness could energize a person even better
than coffee.

******

Lexie hated
her job.

Okay, that
wasn't true.  Yes, it was occasionally tedious.  Yes, there were
occasionally patients that drove her up the wall.  Yes, sometimes the
doctors or nurses were rude if they were in a hurry.  But usually she
liked her job.  She liked that it was different every day and yet the
tasks were always the same, something that she could count on, and she liked
seeing different people.  Sometimes the regular patients would chat with
her, and that was nice too.

However, today
she hated her job, because it was keeping her from Patrick.  Every second
that she wasn't busy doing something felt like it was hours long.  In
between her tasks, she was texting her friends.  First thing she'd done,
after leaving her house, at the very first red light she came to, was send out
the same text to all of them.

Patrick and
I made up... and we're a couple!  

She hadn't quite
known how to phrase it, really.  Patrick wasn't the kind of guy that
looked like a 'boyfriend.'  The word was too immature for him, and not at
all descriptive of the kind of relationship he wanted.  Demanded,
really.  Saying that she was his submissive didn't seem to quite encompass
everything that she felt about him.  Calling them a couple seemed to be
the best way to put it.

Telling her
friends made it feel a bit more real.  Not that she thought she was
dreaming anymore, but it did feel like she was in a kind of dreamland. 
All morning, since she'd woken up, she'd been floating on air.  Being with
him had felt completely natural and wonderful.

Although now
she couldn't stop worrying that he was suddenly going to change his mind, or
that she was somehow going to mess everything up.  Getting what she wanted
made her more anxious than wanting what she couldn't have!  Now there was
always the chance that she could lose it, and that would be so much
worse.  Logically, she knew that her worries weren't entirely rational,
but she had trouble letting them go.

Fortunately,
work and the texts that were now coming back from her friends were helping
distract her, but what she really wanted to do was get back to Patrick. 
When she'd been with him this morning, there had been no question that he'd
been happy to be with her.  Texting with her friends helped though,
renewing her sense of excitement and happiness as she gave each of them a quick
synopsis of last night.

Maria's text
had been filled with happiness for her, while Hilary and Angel were both
supportive but a little more wary.  Poor Leigh had been confused, and
Lexie had had to back track to tell her everything that had happened. 
Which had resulted in Leigh apologizing for not knowing in the first place, even
though it wasn't her fault.  Lexie just hadn't wanted to pile on to the
drama that Leigh was already dealing with.  Hilary and Jessica both
demanded to get together in person, which resulted in a round of group texting
finding out when everyone was available.  They ended up settling on Happy
Hour on Wednesday, which gave Lexie something to look forward to.

Also, she had
a feeling it was a good idea to make plans with her girlfriends quickly,
because part of her wanted to devote every minute of the week to Patrick. 
He wanted a full-time submissive, not a clinging vine, and she didn't want to
lose her friends just because she finally had the man that she wanted. 
Besides, she was spending the night tonight, seeing him tomorrow night (and she
was going to pack an outfit for Wednesday, since she had a feeling that he
would insist on her spending the night tomorrow night too) so going out
Wednesday night was for the best.  Give them a break after two nights
together.