One hell of a ball (Doms, Subs and Exes)

Richard had dressed for the occasion in a casual black suit, not feeling the need to go fully formal for this ball considering he had donated such a large sum of money to the charity it was in aid of. He and Darcie had gotten together and smoothed out a lot of her concerns with the contract, to the point where he had agreed to have a relationship with her where they just experimented for now.

No contract being signed at all.

As the car pulled up for the ball, he exited the car his side before going around the other side to open the door for Darcie and hold a hand out for her to take. He had, of course, paid for her to get a brand new outfit that would help her fit in with the high society here. She had the brain and the manners to fit in but these kinds of people could smell how much money you had to your name.

Holding her hand loosely in his own, he smirked a little bit before whispering into her ear as they entered the hall,

"You look lovely." he assured her with a grin, "By far the most beautiful woman at this ball I'm very sure."

Leading her into the ball, they had gone less than fifty yards before Richard caught the eye of someone he had known for rather a long time. Christian Grey caught sight of Richard too and guided a woman through the crowd with him to meet up with his old friend. Richard grinned as they both shook hands,

"Christian..." he chuckled a little bit, "I should have known you'd donate to this. Still trying to convince people you're a decent human being?"

It was an old joke and Christian chuckled coolly in response,

"You still donating too much and pretending to be some kind of hippy?" he teased lightly before gesturing to his companion, "Richard, meet my friend Ana."

There was a pause on friend that let Richard know that Ana was actually Christian's sub. Smiling politely, he bowed his head to Ana,

"A pleasure." he greeted before presenting Darcie with a smirk, "And may I present my lovely lover, Darcie."

Darcie felt like she was going to explode with nervousness, Richard had bought her a new dress to wear but to be honest she had loathed it and she hated the way that he had to buy her something so expensive that just wasn't her in the slightest. She had always been nerdy, uncoordinated and fond of the rather odd clothes you found down little quaint side streets.

The rich sumptuous dress had not been her at all, that was why she hadn't worn it, and was just about to reveal that fact to Richard when the valet took her coat to put in the cloak room. Smiling shyly at him, Darcie thought it might have been better to wear it...everyone turned to look at her and the woman began to chatter about what she was wearing.

Floor, please swallow me up now. Darcie begged it in her mind, but, nothing happened. God must not be on her side today she agreed.

As she walked into the room, trying her best to hide behind Richard, Darcie was a little shocked when he changed directions and brought her to stop in front of a rather lovely looking man, but she tried her best not to gush he was with another lady after all. Instead of really looking at him she smiled at the girl;

"Ah I'm pleased to meet you Ana!" she grinned, grasping her hand softly "Us girls have to stick together you know, especially when these boys start doing our heads in towards the end of the night." Darcie laughed happily "Pleased to meet you too sir, I'm happy to meet one of Richard's friends."

Now she was here and in the swing of it Darcie was becoming her usual chatty self, even if she was doing it with that same faint blush on her cheeks, it was just because she could tell she was still being looked at even though she was no longer the newest guest in the hall.

(Her Dress http://www.shelikes.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/1800x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/8/1810115.jpg )

To be honest Richard was rather glad that she was wearing what she was wearing. Oh he was rather annoyed that she had ignored what he had bought for her rather than telling him, but that wasn't the main focus right now. The main focus was that she had one smoking hot body and was showing it off an awful lot more than any of the stuffy women with all their money.

It made him want to smirk at all the jealous looks the men in the room were sending him. Of course, she had disobeyed him too and that made his palms twitch with the barely restrained urge to spank her tight little ass for being naughty.

All in due time.

As soon as she was introduced to Christian she blushed a little bit, he could see, and that made him frown ever so slightly. It was all well and good appreciating but a blush like that only came from more developed thoughts. Once again he found the urge to spank her ass bright red clear in his mind. In the end though he just smirked at Christian,

"Seems that our dates are more interested in each other than us." he joked, causing Christian to snort in amused agreement. He paused for a moment before glancing at Christian, "Was 'she' invited do you know?"

Christian looked a little bit amused but he nodded, causing Richard to curse in his mind but nod in response. He chuckled a little bit when he noticed that Darcie seemed to grow much more confident around Ana and Christian, like she knew that she could relate to Ana or something like that. He chuckled a little bit and grabbed some champagne off of one of the servers. He handed glasses to each of his friends and took one for himself,

"To finding good friends?" he suggested with a small smirk, "May we always have such lovely friends in our lives."

Darcie was beginning to get into a full blown conversation with Ana, it seemed that both of them were a little out of place here and they were finding comfort in each other and being able to get away from all the plush surroundings and get into a decent conversation. It was making her feel a lot more relaxed and she was finally not sporting a blush on her cheeks like she had been doing 24/7.

Although when she heard Richard telling Christian that they seemed to be ignoring them Darcie was a little startled and it seemed Ana was as well, that wasn't their intention although it was kind of fun to have met someone she could get along with so well.

"It really is quite grand here, I feel a little bit out of place I have to say." she stated with a shy smile "Everyone here seems to have more money than sense, and the will to spend it on things you could get for a tenth of the price somewhere else."

It never really appealed to her, all this money. Of course it would be nice for her to have this at some point in the future but she wouldn't be attending all of these posh events in fact she would probably just give away her money quietly without making such a big fuss of everyone knowing what she had given away.

Raising her glass to the toast Darcie smiled happily; "To finding good friends!" she grinned "So how long have you two known each other, I don't think Richard mentioned having any friends that he see's regularly, so I am a little surprised."

Turning her head to take in the room Darcie blinked as there seemed to be a blonde woman staring at her from across the room, she was older, about 40 or so but...she was sure she'd not seen her before. It unnerved her the way she seemed to know who she was though.

Richard was glad that Darcie was beginning to get along with Ana. If Christian kept Ana with him for a long period of time then it would mean that Darcie would have a friend to be with who would understand the same kinds of things that she was doing with him. Of course he wasn't actually annoyed at them ignoring her but he could see that Christian was a little bit. The man hated to be ignored, Richard knew but there was nothing meant by it so Richard didn't see the point in getting annoyed at them,

"Yes well it seems to be a requirement to lose most of your intelligence once you reach a certain bank balance." he joked a little bit, "That's why I keep all of my money in investments unless I really need it. Allows me to use my brain without all the money clogging it up like most people here. Present company excluded of course Christian."

The other man just chuckled a little bit and raised his glass. All four of them repeated the toast and their glasses met in the middle before they were allowed to drink it. While Richard was drinking, Christian spoke up,

"I've known Richard since we were in highschool together." he told her with a small smirk, "We found out we had the same interests and outlets and went from there. Pretty soon we were bonding over shared experiences and the like."

Richard noticed that Darcie seemed a little bit confused and followed her line of sight to see Elena walking towards them. He wanted to swear. He really didn't need Elena ruining any chance he had with Darcie by making her all jealous,

"Christian! Dick!" she greeted the men, pushing past Darcie and Ana rudely to place a hand on the shoulders of both men, "What are two strapping young men like yourselves doing here when you could be out doing things much more fun?"

Coughing a little bit, he stepped away from Elena to hold onto Darcie's hand with a small smile, "Elena, this is Darcie, my lover. I thought I might take her out to a ball and dance happily with her."

Darcie couldn't help but giggle happily when she heard that Richard was making little digs at the people here, maybe he was doing so to make her feel more at ease? It would be sweet if he was doing it because of that, but she didn't seriously give it much consideration. It was a funny statement regardless of the reason why he had said it. Taking a soft sip of her drink she sighed lightly, it was really very tasty, it tasted expensive too...

"Oh really?" she asked with a happy smile "That sounds great, I wish I had managed to keep in contact with some of my friends from High School but you know...Texas is so far away!" Darcie said with a sweet smile on her lips "It's nice that you two make time for each other, you both must be so busy."

As the woman who had just been looking at her came towards her, Darcie blinked softly and she thought that she was going to come and talk to her for a moment, but, she walked right past her and started to talk to the boys. A rather irrational pang of upset ran through her when she completely ignored her, and proceeded to put her hands on Richard, her date.

"Dick?" she asked, trying to keep the laughter from her voice "You let people call you Dick?" Darcie grinned up at him, her blue eyes light and playful despite her inner subconscious hissing at the woman.

When she heard the woman's name, her eyes widened slightly and she could see that Ana's widened too, the brunette seemed to be so rattled now by her presence Darcie couldn't help but wonder if she was with Christian as well as Richard the way she talked to both of them. Trying however, to be polite, Darcie merely smiled at the woman;

"Pleased to meet you Elena I've heard about you a little bit." she grinned, holding out her hand for the woman to shake, and when she ignored it, Darcie blinked a little hurt and swooped it back to play with her hair "Left me hanging there!" she laughed.

Richard and Christian shared a smile with each other, knowing that they had kept in touch largely due to one of those 'shared interests' they had mentioned. Namely a woman and her leather toys named Elena. But it was impolite to mention your ex when you were with someone, especially if it turned out that you kept in contact with your ex... and your ex had once been your dom. He nodded in agreement,

"It is rather nice to have someone who knew me before I managed to claw my way up to where I am now I must admit." he agreed and Christian nodded in agreement, "We find time to go out for drinks with friends every now and then."

When Elena called him Dick, Richard couldn't help but wince in annoyance. All it took was for one person to call him Dick and then everyone suddenly realised that both of his names were slang for penis. Elena chuckled a little bit coldly as she regarded Darcie with about the same level of annoyance than most people did to bugs, insects below their notice,

"Oh no dear, he doesn't let people call him Dick." She told her slowly, as if explaining it to someone who was either hard of hearing or mentally impaired, "He just lets me call him Dick. Isn't that right Dick?"

Richard gritted his teeth in annoyance and once again detached himself from Elena to stand closer to Darcie, very aware how Elena had latched onto him again in an instant,

"Only because you don't listen when I tell you to stop it." he told her with a sigh before chuckling a little bit and glancing at Darcie, "I hope you won't call me Dick. Richard or Rich are just fine."

When Elena deliberately left Darcie hanging there, Richard frowned at her. Elena just smiled serenely, as if she had done nothing as impolite as what she had just done. He carefully wrapped an arm around Darcie's shoulders and Elena's eyes flashed with anger before she latched onto Christian's arm and turned to Ana. She looked her up and down and tutted a little bit,

"Oh and I can see this young lady needs a trip to my salon!" she glanced at Christian, swatting him playfully on the arm, "Honestly Christian... it looks like she's dressed herself in the dark!"

Darcie smiled softly up at Richard and Christian before turning to Ana and giving her a brighter smile, it was nice to be able to find someone in the same situation that she was in, maybe they would be able to come and talk to each other a few times about how to deal with obscenely wealthy people when they themselves had come from quite moderate backgrounds in terms of money.

"Would you like to come out for some drinks with me some time Ana? I would really like that if you would." she asked with a shy smile "I reckon we'll need some time to ourselves to gossip obscenely about these two gentlemen." Darcie teased, whispering conspiratorially between the two of them so that the other three couldn't hear what they were saying.

"I would love to come out for drinks with you Darcie." Ana beamed, and she handed Darcie her business card with her mobile on it, which Darcie stowed safely in her clutch purse so that she wouldn't lose it.

Both she and Ana looked at each other and then back at Elena, then back at each other, and they both were a little astounded by the way the woman was acting. Why was she behaving like some cat in heat with these two guys? It was a little gross to be honest. But when Richard spoke to her she grinned and rested her head on his arm as he wrapped it around her.

"Maybe I can think of my own name for you uhm...if you want that is." she stated with a small blush, inhaling his lovely musky scent as she lay against his arm.

Darcie thought she had better rescue her new found friend and spoke up with a worried expression for Ana; "Now now there's no need to be a bitch." Darcie hushed to Elena "I happen to think Ana has a beautiful dress on and if I'm not mistaken she told me Christian actually picked it for her, if you want to make snide comments you should make them to him."

Richard had to admit that it was nice to see the budding friendship grow between Darcie and Ana. He was, however, a little annoyed that she seemed to be making plans to meet up with Ana despite not having cleared it with him first. No doubt he was going to have to punish her for that when they were back at his apartment.

But in the end he just smiled along with Christian because, at the end of the day, he would have granted her request anyway had she come to him with it. It wasn't too much of a stretch for him to just accept it for now but he would punish her for not asking him so that she would ask in the future, just in case she wanted to organise something he disapproved of,

"Sounds like you two will have plans for when Christian and I go out for drinks of our own." he teased the two of them lightly before winking a little bit, "We'll make sure to give you a break from us and drink at somewhere you won't be headed for alright?"

Richard was not a sub anymore and he hated being treated like he was someone's pet. He was a dom god-damn it! He was the one who was in control and he was the one who acted like he owned someone else. He was free and he would remain that way no matter how much Elena wanted him again. When Darcie rested her head against him, he smiled and Elena scowled,

"Of course you can think of your own name for me." he told her honestly, not minding if she did come up with something. He kissed her cheek and thought he heard Elena growl in anger, "Nothing too embarrassing alright?"

He laughed but managed to cover it up, very badly, as something like a cough. He still couldn't stop himself from sniggering though. Elena scowled at both Richard and Darcie before huffing a little bit and turning her nose up at the both of them,

"Well she still looks rather terrible. You should send her to the salon Christian." she declared before eyeing Darcie's dress with disgust, "You should send yours too Dick... she looks like-"

"A beautiful woman." Richard cut her off with a voice that was at once both firm and just overly sweet, deceptively sweet, "That was what you were going to say Elena... right?"

Elena, recognising that Richard wasn't going to budge on this, just sighed and nodded a little bit, thoroughly annoyed that Richard had ended up turning into a strong dom like this.

Darcie smiled softly and she gently squeezed Richard's hand he was being very understanding and she was sure that he would have something to say when they got back to their apartment but she was sure that it would end up being a rather enjoyable experience. They hadn't had sex yet, and she wasn't sure that angry Richard was the best first time for her but...

It didn't mean they couldn't do something else together though.

The thought made her squeak a little in happiness and her inner goddess hugged herself as she twirled around her mind like a movie screen queen getting her big moment. Allowing her mind to come back to the now she smiled shyly.

"I wasn't going to think of anything embarrassing." she stated with a light blush "Don't worry, I wouldn't want to embarrass you by calling you something you don't like, it's rude above anything else."

Her goddess and Ana seemed to sputter in laughter at this, and only then did Darcie realise she had made a subtle jibe at Elena, subtly she saw Ana give her the thumbs up and she smiled bashfully. She really did like Ana, they were getting on really well.

"I...I like my dress." she stated with a small pout, pulling at it "It was only $20 in the sale a right bargain!" Darcie giggled "In a sweet little store not too far from the University."

Finishing her drink, she held her hand out for Ana and grinned cheekily; "Come on Ana let's go bump and grind and make our men right jealous." she laughed, winking happily as Ana too laughed and they hopped off to the dancefloor, leaving the boys with Elena but Darcie knew that nothing would happen she trusted Richard implicitly.

Loosing herself in the music she and Ana danced happily together, it seemed both of them were loosing their cares in the music and all thoughts of S and M were vanished from her mind as she unwinded.

Richard smiled a little bit when she squeezed his hand a little bit. It seemed that she understood that he was being rather understanding and accepting, a far cry from what he normally was in a relationship. But for Darcie he found himself willing to bend the rules, to bend himself, a little bit more than he would usually consider. She was nice and she had that effect on him, even though he knew he wouldn't miss this opportunity to punish her a little bit,

"Good good." he joked with her a little bit, giving her a knowing wink that made Christian roll his eyes and Elena huff a little bit. He kissed her neck, just below her ear, and whispered, "Just so long as you know what I'll want to be called later..."

Elena pursed her lips. It seemed that she was getting nowhere fast with them when they were in a group like this. In a group both Ana and Darcie were confident enough to hold their own against her and her comment; that just meant that he would have to get them on their own before she went after them. She couldn't resist a last little barb though,

"Oh it shows darling. Rather cheap I see... it suits you well." she insulted Darcie smoothly before kissing Christian on the cheek and giving Richard a blown-kiss, "Toodles boys! I'll see you again I'm sure but right now I think I need a drink."

As she trotted off, Richard couldn't help but let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. Richard took Darcie's hand and gave it a small, reassuring, squeeze before turning to Christian as they raced off to go dancing on their own,

"Think we should go and get out own dances in before they tire themselves out?" he joked, earning an amused smirk from Christian, "Yeah I thought so too."

Approaching their dates, Christian and Richard each took the hand of their date. As Christian led Ana away, Richard smiled a little bit as he danced with Darcie, "Mind if I have this dance?"

Darcie was dancing and strutting her stuff on the floor very eager to forget that vile woman in a hurry it seemed she had the innate ability to get under both her and Ana's skin, she didn't know what Ana knew about all of this but it seemed that she affected her more than she did Darcie. Obviously she knew more about it than she did and it was a little unsettling...

Jolted out of her thoughts when she felt someone touching her hand, her eyes focused on Richard and she smiled shyly, she hadn't known that he was wanting a dance with her but she was glad he didn't take too long with Elena, she didn't trust her one little bit! Although she had to say she was the typical beauty salon owner, prim and polished and bitchy as hell.

"No, I don't mind at all." she stated with a soft blush as she gently pulled her body closer to Richard's to dance with him instead of just next to him.

Slowly her hips moved in time to the pumping bass of the music, them having vetoed the horrible ballroom dances that she didn't have any idea how to dance to. This music was much more her thing. Unsure of whether Richard wanted her to touch him, she merely stayed dancing close to him, allowing her body to sway sensually to the music.

"Thank you Richard." Darcie whispered "For letting me plan to go out with Ana, I really like her and we could be great friends, although I could say otherwise about the other lovely lady you brought to my attention tonight." she sighed softly with a little pout "Does my dress really look that cheap?" Darcie asked, a little insecure now.

Richard grinned a little bit when she said that she didn't mind at all. He was glad that she hadn't forgotten that she was his date and Ana wasn't hers. He chuckled a little bit at that thought. Was he really getting that jealous that he wouldn't let her dance with Ana? No, of course he wasn't that jealous. But it did make for an amusing set of thoughts about him being that jealous though.

Hearing that she didn't mind him dancing with her, he grinned a little bit and danced closer to her as well so that they were both pressed against each other rather nicely. He had to admit that even dancing with her like this at a charity ball of the rich and famous, he loved the feeling of her body being so close to his own as they danced together to the beat.

He could see that she was hesitant to dance right up against him because she was hesitant about touching him for some reason. But right now he definitely wanted her to touch him. He reached out and pulled her closer still, so that she was literally dancing up against his body,

"I would like to be informed before it is agreed next time but it's not a problem." he told her with a small smirk when she mentioned Elena, "You assume I wanted to see her. I see enough of her at our reunions with Christian..."

When she expressed her concerns about what Elena had said he stopped the dancing they were doing to look down deep into her eyes,

"You're dress doesn't look cheap at all." he assured her with a small smirk, "She's probably jealous that you have the beautiful body and the powerful mind to go with it. You're the full package and she knows full well that she isn't."

Darcie blushed heavily when Richard pulled her closer to him so that their bodies were almost touching each other and she hoped that she was going to be able to have some fun with him tonight when they got back home, currently they were busy working on her minor skills, avoiding sex, she hadn't quite started learning about oral skills yet but...maybe tonight she could show Richard what she's got.

His body really was very distracting to her as it pressed softly against her own, she could tell that he was lean and muscular but not overly so which was nice, from all the times she had seen him topless, it was a rather heady experience to think about what his muscles would have been gained from. Richard had told her he hated sport after all.

"Why don't you just tell Christian you don't want to go when she's there, you could go to each others apartments for a drink if you wanted I'm sure." Darcie smiled lightly and she softly placed her hands on Richards chest "I...I like the way he makes you smile, its nice to see you happy and carefree like that, it's like you actually mean it."

Biting her lip softly, Darcie diverted her gaze to the floor, she didn't know how Richard would react to her saying something like that, she hoped not badly. He would just most likely ignore it like he did everything she said too quickly. As he stopped her dancing, Darcie blushed softly and she looked up into his eyes, blushing graciously at what he said.

"You didn't have to be mean about her...I just wanted your opinion on my dress." she mumbled softly "But thank you, for being so nice."

Gently she stood up and kissed his cheek, by way of thank you,

Richard enjoyed the fact that he was able to make his lover blush just by pulling her closer to dance with him. He liked knowing that she was enjoying being with him like this. He hoped that he wasn't blushing too but he was enjoying this just as much as she was. It was amazing to see just how much he loved the way that they were dancing up against each other.

It was minimal contact, that was for sure, but he enjoyed every second of it none the less. Every touch that they had as they danced seemed to light a fire deep inside of him and he couldn't help but want to touch her in a way that was entirely inappropriate for the dance floor of a charity ball. But entirely appropriate for being alone in his bedroom together,

"Mmm I might just do that to be honest." he agreed with her, not really enjoying how Elena seemed to treat him as if he was still her little sub. That ship had sailed long ago and he was not going to let himself be anyone's sub, "Of course we should also arrange for us to go out with Christian and Ana together at times as well."

He could tell that she was enjoying the attention that he was giving her, although having her not accept his insult towards Elena was a little bit surprising. In the end he just smirked a little bit and nodded in happiness,

"Don't worry, I'm just telling the truth." he told her before grinning a little bit and leaning in to whisper to her, "So... tell me when you've had enough and we can head home for some... fun."

Darcie smiled softly and she was glad that Richard was going to take her advice she wanted to be able to give him more advice and make him happier and happier because of it. Closing her eyes she thought about how he had appeared to her at first, flirty, sensual and very very stubborn set in his ways. Although now, he was willing to bend on so much for her, maybe he should start changing other aspects of his life as well, not just in his relationships.

"Oh I would love that Richard!" she gasped happily "I really would like to spend more time with them they seem like such nice people, although, I have to say Christian is a little bit intense." Darcie admitted with her cheeks flushing more, the memory of his stern gaze at Ana was a little bit...squirmworthy if she was honest.

It made her wiggle and it wasn't even directed at her! She thought she had her problems with Richard when it seemed that he was the more docile one out of the two friends.

As he leant in and teased her with the whisper in her ear, Darcie bit her lip and she wanted to be able to go home right now but, they had only just got here she couldn't leave already could she? It wouldn't be right to leave without having stayed at least an hour or so. But...then again. Nibbling on her lip, Darcie decided to fuck politeness for tonight, she wanted to go home and have a lot of fun.

"Well then, I've had enough." she stated with a wry smile "We should probably head off home now, that is if you meant what you said." Darcie teased with a cheeky pull of her tongue.

Richard had to admit that she was influencing a lot of changes in him for some reason and he couldn't really find it in himself to care all that much. She wasn't changing anything major about who he was after all and she was submitting much easier now that he was changing a little bit. He could see that she was not against him being even more dominant though, if her reaction to meeting Christian was any bet. To be honest he was more intense than Christian but he tended to be much more intense when it came to the actual act and not just the everyday stuff,

"Yes they are rather nice people, although I've not known Ana for very long. She seems nice enough to be sure." he agreed before fixing her with a cool, steely, look in his eyes. Leaning forwards until their eyes were only inches away, "He's not the only one who can turn up the intensity..."

Winking at her when he pulled away from her, he could see that she was fighting against herself over something. Hopefully it would be something fun. Grinning a little bit when she tried to tease him and told him that she was ready to go home, he smirked a little bit and licked his lips as he blatantly looked her up and down slowly to catch her eyes,

"Yes we should head off now... otherwise I might start with you here, without the bedroom." he told her huskily before taking her hand and leading her back out of the ball to where the car and the driver were waiting. He licked his lips a little bit before whispering into her ear huskily, "You've been taking some liberties... I do believe I'll have to punish you..."

He nibbled on her ear lobe until the car pulled up. Holding the door open for her, he winked at her with a grin, "In between pleasure of course. Now please get inside the car... we will only have a short drive before we find ourselves at my apartment."