He could shut this shit down right now. He could claim it was far too dangerous, and she would have to wait until they had another class if she insisted on doing this with a group. And then Noelle wouldn’t get what she needed. He didn’t understand it, but she seemed to need to be here. She needed to do this on her own terms. “I’ll make it work. I’ll ensure all the homework is done here at the club, and Noelle and I will come up with something to tell him. Maybe we can let him know I’m investigating something for her.”
“Big Tag might not like telling this guy anything at all,” Michael pointed out. “You shouldn’t say a thing until you run it by Tag.”
“Then I should talk to Noelle because we didn’t discuss this before.” He stood up. Why hadn’t he thought of this problem? Because he’d been too busy denying that she would actually go to the class. Because he’d been thinking of himself and not the case at hand.
“You’ve still got about ten minutes before they start the class.” Michael picked up his controller again.
“Don’t fuck it up,” Theo advised. “When you come back we can order some pizza and play some more, if you want. Back when I was chasing after my wife, it always helped to take out my frustrations in video games.”
Hutch wasn’t sure he would be able to concentrate on a game right now, but it wouldn’t hurt to hang out with friends and get through the next couple of hours. He rushed out. He would find Kyle and Kyle could talk to Noelle so she didn’t feel like he was trying to disrupt her class.
It would be better if he didn’t look at her because then he wouldn’t be able to think about anything but her boobs. They would be gorgeous in a corset, and he hoped she was wearing a miniskirt because if this Jeff asshole saw her in a thong he would likely be hard to lose.
He took the stairs two at a time and then realized he was going to be lucky for once on this shitty day. Kyle stood just outside the dungeon talking with the Domme who now ran Sanctum—a lovely woman named Lea—and a dark-haired man in leathers Hutch didn’t recognize.
“What exactly are you saying, Jeffrey?” Mistress Lea’s voice had gone icy cold, and it stopped Hutch from calling out to Kyle.
Something serious was going on.
“I’m saying I didn’t sign up to coddle some disabled chick,” the man said, pointing back toward the dungeon space.
Kyle looked up and caught sight of Hutch. “Fuck. Lea, we have a problem.”
“Why is she here?” Jeffrey asked, ignoring Kyle. “What can she do? She couldn’t even get up the stairs without help. I’m not spanking some girl who can’t even walk right. No way.”
“Hutch,” Kyle began.
But Hutch wasn’t listening. Hutch saw fucking red and the rest of the world fell away.
* * * *
Noelle couldn’t stop looking around Sanctum. It was crazy that she was here, and she was wearing a purple corset and a miniskirt, and there was a human hamster wheel that supposedly lit up when a sub was running on it.
It was crazy and she was stupidly excited.
Only one thing held her back from one hundred percent bubbling over with enthusiasm.
Hutch.
He’d stood outside the women’s locker room when he’d dropped her off and given her the saddest smile.
I hope you have a wonderful time tonight. Whoever they put you with…he’s so lucky, Noelle. Don’t forget that.
Then he’d turned and walked into the men’s locker room across the hall. She wouldn’t see him again until the class was over and she’d gotten back into her slacks and blouse and she looked like regular old Noelle again. It felt like she was withholding something from him, but that wasn’t what she’d meant to do.
Would he like the way she looked now? Would he stare at the way the corset forced her breasts up and how small it made her waist look?
“Did you find the elevator?” Laurel Daley Bradford was dressed in a crimson corset and tiny shorts. She was her stepmom’s sister, and apparently she’d taken on a teaching role at Sanctum. A long-time sub, she had a son with her husband, Mitch, who practiced law here in Dallas.
“Yes. Erin showed me.” She’d been greeted by Erin Taggart, who’d explained she was acting as a mentor to the new subs along