Title: Lady Heather's Party
By: Fran Holland
RATING: FRM
Pairing: Gil/Nick

I was expecting Nick Stokes’ knock.  He was punctual and that is a trait that I like.  When I opened the door, he looked scared to death.  To put him at ease, I invited him into the parlor.  I had thought to light the fireplace and had a fresh pot of coffee prepared.

“Mr. Stokes, please sit down.  Would you like some coffee?”  I asked.

“Nick.  Please call me Nick.  Coffee would be great.  Thank you.”  He said with a slight stutter.

I poured for both of us and offered him sugar and cream.   After I gave him his cup, I sat down across from him and sipped.  I find that a companionable silence sometimes eases the nerves.  He kept looking at everything but me, but remained silent.

“Nick?  Would you like to tell me why you made an appointment to see me?”

He stared at his hands for some time, just holding onto the coffee cup and then he looked up and met my eyes.

“Lady Heather, I’m bi-sexual.  Being associated with the LVPD, I can’t go to bars to hook up with a…you know…a guy.  It’s easy to find women to hook up with, but sometimes…sometimes I just want to…you know….”

He paused to catch his breath.  His words had come out in a rush.

“Anyway, I was hoping that you could…you might know of…a place.  Someplace discreet.”

I steepled my hands together and gave it some thought.  The room was so quiet that I heard the ticking of the clock on the mantle above the fireplace.  I collected my thoughts and spoke.

“I have a special party here at The Dominon once a month.  It is by invitation only.  Though it may not be your cup of tea.” 

My monthly party was legendary with the homosexuals in the Las Vegas area.  I don’t mean to brag, but people do clamor for invitations.  I’ve been offered a great deal of money for invitations.  I usually limit the invitees, just to keep the interest high.

“Why?  What kind of party is it?”  Nick finally looked back up at me.

“Young men, such as yourself, are offered to a select clientele.  For a price.”

“No, oh no.”  Nick shook his head adamantly.

“I did not think you would be interested, even though the clientele that pay my price are very interesting men.  Men with a great deal of power, men you may find attractive.”
The more I thought about it, the more I thought that Nick would be good for “business”, so to speak.

“Nick, let me ask you something.  Have you ever played a submissive roll with your previous lovers?”

“Look, I don’t get into chains and whips and stuff like that.”  Nick looked ready to bolt out my door and I really wanted him to stay, so I put my hand over his and made him meet my eyes.

“Nick, I’m not talking about whips and chains, but I’ve always said, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.  I was asking if you played a more submissive part by being a bottom.”

“Oh.  Well….”  He blushed.  He actually blushed to the roots of his hair.  God, I hadn’t seen a blush in years.  In my business, blushes are a once in a blue moon kind of thing.

“Mostly…I like being…you know….bottom.”

“Let me describe my parties in more detail before you make your decision.  First of all, there is a limited number of invitees.  The clients are in two groups, the gallery and the floor.  The gentlemen in the gallery watch from a balcony above the floor, they can’t touch unless they pay a higher price for a private show.  The gentlemen on the floor are allowed to touch the submissives.  They can touch you, arouse you and ask that you arouse them.  Sometimes that is all they want, mostly they ask a submissive for permission to have a private show.”

“Define ‘show’.”  Nick asked me quietly.  I could tell he was getting intrigued by the idea.

“I have a number of private rooms.  The clients pay for the room and a price for the submissive’s time.  They must tell me, or one of my staff, what they desire from the submissive.  I talk to the submissive and see if he has similar wants and if so, they are given a room.”

“So, these submissives can say no?”

“Definitely.”  I assured him.  “All the clients are specially screened by an investigator that I hire.  If there are any concerns, I take them off the client list permanently.  The submissives are all men who are similar to you.  They either have high profile jobs and want discretion or they are afraid to do the bar scene and are having trouble finding suitable partners.”

“What kinds of things to they want the submissives to do?”

“Well, that depends on the clients.  We have established couples who just want a threesome with someone safe.  We have clients who like to spank.  We have clients who like to tie their submissive up and basically, have their way with them.  We have clients who just want to have a simple affair with a nice looking man.  Tastes vary with each client.  I have to add that all my submissives come back for more.  I have had only one incident where the client got a little out of control, but he has been banned and the submissive involved still loves to come and play.”

“I don’t know…this isn’t something that I…”  Nick let his words trail off.  I assumed he was uncomfortable talking about things like this with a woman.

“One of my submissives is here today, why don’t I introduce you and he can talk to you about his experiences.  You might be more comfortable with asking him questions and he can give you first hand experience.”  I stood up and being a well mannered Texas boy, Nick stood too. 

“I’ll be right back.  Just relax and make yourself at home.”   As I left the room, Nick was sitting back down.

I found Jacob in the lounge, studying for his finals.  Jacob was a med student and one of my favorite young men.  He had an easy going personality and his employment with me for the past two years has allowed him to pay of his student loans.

“Jacob, I need a favor.”

“Anything for you, Lady Heather.”  He smiled up at me and shut his text book, giving me all his attention.

“I have a man in my parlor that is in need of some diversion.  He’s not comfortable in bars because of what he does for a living.  I truly believe he is a natural submissive.   I have told him about my monthly parties and his interest is peeked, but he has reservations.  I told him that you could answer any questions he has, would you be willing to talk to him?”

“No problem.”  Jacob said as he stood.  He stretched and followed me out of the lounge. 

“Jacob, before you talk to him, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  It came to me while I was debating on whether to talk this gentlemen out of participating.”

Jacob slowed his steps to match mine and looked at me intently.

“You were going to talk him out of participating?  Why?  We can always use a good submissive.”

“This gentlemen and I have a history together.  Do you remember the incident last year with the murder?

“Yes.”  Jacob nodded.

“This gentlemen was one of the investigators.”

“You mean he works with Mr. Grissom?”  Jacob had stopped walking completely and I had to stop and turn back to face him.

“Yes.  Now you can see my dilemma.”

Jacob gave me a very big grin.  “So, you want him to come to the party, don’t you?

“I think it would prove to be a very interesting night.”  I returned his grin and we continued on our way back to the parlor.

Nick stood up as we entered the room. 

“Nick, this is Jacob.  Jacob has been with me for two years now and is putting himself through medical school.  Jacob, Nick Stokes.”

The two men shook hands and I observed that both were sizing up the other.  I love watching human behavior, two males always size each other up like two male animals.  I find it fascinating.

“I’m going to leave you two.  I’ll be back in about thirty minutes, if you need anything, just use the house phone, Jacob.”

“Thanks, Lady Heather.”  Jacob was already sitting in the chair that I had vacated earlier and I knew that Nick was in good hands.

I busied myself with various phone calls and paperwork until thirty minutes had passed.  Keeping my fingers crossed, I entered the parlor.  Nick and Jacob stopped talking when I entered, but I heard enough to know they were talking about football. 

Both young men stood up.

“Lady Heather, I’ve talked Nick’s ears off, but now I’ve got to get back to the books.  I’ve got finals next week.”  Jacob leaned over and brushed his lips on my cheek before he left the room.

Alone with me, Nick looked nervous.  “I guess I should go too.” 

“I’ll see you out.”  I was dying with curiosity, but didn’t want to push him.  He was the type of man you handled with kid gloves.  I showed him to the front door and as he crossed the threshold to leave, he turned. 

“I’ll come.  I scared shitless, but I’ll come.”  He said quietly.  He gave me a tentative smile and turned to go.
“Nick?”

When he turned back to face me again, I smiled and told him the date and time.   He blushed again.

“Oh, yeah.  Thanks.”  Nick said quietly and turned again to walk to his vehicle.  I smiled to myself as I walked back into the house.  Nick was so refreshing and I could not wait until the night of the party.  It should prove to be very interesting.

****

The day of my special parties, the house staff is very busy.  Normally, my lounge only carries alcoholic beverages for my guests, as the staff is not allowed to drink while on duty.  Party nights, however are different.  We have several light appetizers both in the lounge in the gallery.  A small bar is set up in the gallery for the ‘viewers’.  And because it is a party, the submissives that do work for me are allowed to have wine, no hard liquor.

My female staff members are allowed to have the night off and I pull the men on my staff that are straight that don’t participate in the parties to do the bartending and serving.  I wouldn’t let my guests know, but they are also there to make sure everyone is kept safe.

My job as the hostess is to make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be.  Most of my guests are returning customers, with very few new men but tonight Nick was joining us, as well as two others.  One new man is a submissive and one will be sitting in the gallery observing for his first night.

Nick had called this morning and sounded so nervous that I felt sorry for him.  He wanted to know what one wore to an event such as this.  I laughed, he was so very cute.  I told him that while tight jeans looked nice, they were usually harder to get into and out of.  We finally decided that Nick should wear chinos and a button-down shirt.  When I told him not to wear any underwear, I thought the poor boy would choke.

Finally, it was show time.  I took a final stroll around the gallery and looked down into the lounge.  My staff members were in place.  The bartenders and servers in black pants and black shirts with red ties and the participating submissives on my payroll were in nice slacks and dress shirts.  Jacob saw me and winked.

“Don’t worry, boss, I’ll take good care of him.”  He called up to me.   I smiled down at him.  He knew that I was a bit nervous about Nick’s night. 

Downstairs, I waited at the front door for the guests to arrive.  At eight o’clock, I saw the first cars driving through the front gate.  I greeted each guest by name and put them in my staff’s capable hands. 

“Gil, how wonderful to see you.”  I kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear that I had a surprise for him.  All I got was a raised eyebrow and a slight smile.  I sent him on his way.  I had purposely told Nick a later starting time because I did not want to risk them running into each other in the parking lot.  It would ruin my plans.

Okay, I know what you are thinking.  But I’m such a matchmaker at heart.  Gil has been pining away for years over Nick.  Oh, he doesn’t think I know, but really….when they were in the same room during the investigation, he couldn’t keep his eyes off Nick.   I would not plan this on that observation alone, oh no.   Gil Grissom is a client that likes only dark haired, dark eyed young men in their late thirties and I have to make them listen to tapes, so they have a slight Texan accent. 

Though we have never spoken about it, I often wonder if Gil thinks I’m stupid for not putting two and two together.  Tonight may be a shock for both men involved, but in the business I’m in, I know it will work out for the best.  I’d bet my reputation on it.

Thirty minutes later, all my guests had arrived except Nick and I expected him any minute.  I had left the door in Joseph’s, one of my straight dominants, care.  He had special instructions to call Jacob upon Nick’s arrival.

I went up the stairs to the gallery and wondered around making small talk.  Gil was standing at the railing already looking over the room below.  He had a favorite on my staff and Rick did look a lot like Nick and could fake a Texan accent with the best of them.  Tonight, I had told Rick to come in late.  I didn’t want Gil to grab him and disappear into a private room before he had a chance to see my guest of honor. 

Moving up beside Gil, I placed my hand over his. 

“See anyone you like?”

“I was looking for Rick.”

“Rick was doing something special for me, he’ll be in later.”  I almost laughed at Gil’s expression.  He was not happy.

I continued to stand beside him, looking down at the actions below.  Several of the submissives already had the buttons of the shirts undone as the guests both looked and touched.  Tommy, one of my younger favorites and a favorite of my clients was being engaged by a wealthy banker and his lover.  The lover was very randy tonight, since he already had his hand in Tommy’s pants.  Foreplay is allowed to some degree, but for the more graphic acts, I ask that clients take their play to a more private place. 

Gil was observing all with a keen eye and I knew he would miss nothing.  I saw Joseph enter the room and motion for Jacob. 

“Let the games begin.”  I said softly.

Gil looked at my questioningly, but said nothing.  I gave him a smile and turned my attention to the floor below again.

I didn’t need to see Gil’s face to know when he saw Nick enter the room.  I heard his swift intake of breath.  Several of my other clients saw Nick also.  So, I thought to myself, Gil may have some competition.  Very interesting, indeed.

“What is he doing here?”  Gil voice was hissed through clinched teeth. 

“He came to me.”  Before I could offer any more explanation, Gil cut me off.

“He’s straight.  Is this some sort of prank?”

“I don’t do pranks, Mr. Grissom.”  I allowed my voice to become very cool.  “Mr. Stokes is bi-sexual and came to me.  It seems he wants to play and didn’t have anyone to play with.”

I let that sink in and watched Gil out of the corner of my eye as I watched the action on the floor.  Jacob had introduced Nick to several gentlemen and he had quite a fan club standing around him. 

“I’ll pay for him.”  Gil snapped out.

I inclined my head, “So be it.  I’ll have him sent to a room.”

“No, no room.  Just get him off the floor, I don’t want anyone touching him.”

“Gil, you are growling and I find it rude.  Nick paid me to have a fun night.  I cannot take your money so he won’t.”

I was met with stony silence.  But Gil’s hands on the rail were white with tension.  It was time for me to go downstairs.

****

Nick grinned at me over the shoulders of his fan club.  Even a few of the paying submissive guests were in the group.

“Gentlemen, may I steal a few minutes of Nick’s time.  I promise I’ll let him come back to you.  It won’t take but a minute.”

Nick followed me out of the men’s earshot.  “So, are you enjoying yourself?” 

“Yeah, Yes, Ma’am.  I was nervous at first, but everyone is so nice.” 

“I’m glad.  Have you seen anyone that interests you yet?”

Nick gave me a sheepish grin.  “There are a couple that I wouldn’t kick outta bed.”

“You are so charming, Nick Stokes.  Now, go back to your new friends and just let me or one of the staff know if you need some privacy.”

Nick blushed again and I gave him a wave as I walked away chuckling.  I looked up at the gallery railing and looked right into icy blue eyes.  No, Gil Grissom was not a happy man.  Seeing the object of his affection flirting with other men after thinking he’s been straight all these years was clearly driving him insane.  What fun, don’t you just love drama?

I made my way to the bar and sat down to observe.  Everyone seemed like they were having a good time and several guests had already requested private rooms.  I glanced back at Nick and was surprised to see that one of his admirers had made a move.  I watched as the man’s hands lightly ran over Nick’s beautiful backside and he was whispering into Nick’s ear. 

The gentleman was a regular.  Stan Morrison was the security chief for the MGM casino.  In his early 50’s, Stan was a handsome man.  Gray hair and blue eyes.  Slightly stocky, but not overweight.  Interesting, Gil Grissom was all of those things too.

One of my servers came up to my side and whispered that I was needed in the gallery as soon as possible.  I looked up, Gil was now standing and I could see the tension from here.  As I walked towards the stairs, I looked once more at Nick.  The older man was rubbing his hand in a circular motion over Nick’s butt and Nick’s head was thrown back.  The man was still whispering in his ear and I’ll bet he was telling Nick exactly what he wanted to do with that gorgeous body. 

Gil practically pounced on me when I got to the top of the stairs.  “I want him now.  I’ll pay for the right to him and I’ll take the private room.”

“Well, let me see if his other admirer has requested the private room first.  It is first come first serve as long as the submissive is willing.”

Before he could react, I went to the wall phone and called down to the bartender.  I waited while he answered and after hearing my instructions, he nodded and hung up.  I joined Gil at the rail and waited for my instructions to be carried out.

Joseph walked over to Nick and tapped his arm.  He looked a bit irritated at being disturbed while having his neck kissed by Stan, but let Joseph lead him a few feet away.  Stan wasn’t looking too happy either and I knew that I would have to make it up to him somehow.  All I can say is that he should have moved a bit faster in getting Nick to himself.

Joseph pointed up to the gallery and Nick followed his finger.  I could see the shock on Nick’s face when he saw Gil standing there.  Especially, since Gil looked like he could be spitting nails.  Joseph lead Nick out of the lounge and I knew he was taking him to a private room.  He would let me know which one. 

Gil was simply standing there with his hands behind his back.  He would not meet my eyes.  That was when it hit me.  I may have made a mistake.  They were co-workers and probably friends.  I may have caused a rift that could not be fixed.

“Gil…”  The phone rang before I could apologize.  I picked it up, listened as Joseph gave me the name of the room where he put Nick and hung up.

I tried to play it cool, but I was a bundle of nerves as I led Gil down the hall and down the back stairs.

At the door to Nick’s room, Gil rounded on me.  “Just leave.”

I nodded and backed away. 

****

Several hours later, the staff had cleaned up the lounge and most of the private rooms were now vacant.  The house rules were to vacate the rooms before midnight.  That made way for other clients. 

After leaving Gil at Nick’s door, I returned to the party briefly, making sure everything else was running smoothly and then left the rest in Joseph’s capable hands.  I retired to my rooms and poured myself a brandy. 

What had I done?  Would either men forgive me for interfering in their lives?  Would my friendship with Gil endure this?  I meant well.  I thought I saw something in Nick that would be good for Gil and I know Gil would be good for Nick.  I knew that Gil had feelings for Nick, I could tell by his choice of men.

Sleep didn’t come for me that night.  I tossed and turned and finally got out of bed as the sun rose. 

My business is such that the days are slow.  Most of my clientele come during evening hours, but I have a few that use the daytime hours for their play.  I usually don’t open for business until noon though. 

I fixed myself a strong espresso and was already regretting the day ahead.  I had several hours before business opened so I picked up the latest best seller I had started a few days ago and sat down. 

Deeply engrossed in the heroine’s adventures in bounty hunting, I was startled when the doorbell rang.  Glancing at the clock on the mantle, I wondered who would be here at 9:00 on a Friday morning.

I pulled my robe tightly around my waist and looked out the window.  I knew I gasped out loud, because standing at my front door was Gil Grissom and Nick Stokes.

Dreading the confrontation, I allowed myself a deep, cleansing breath before I opened the door.

Expecting the worst, I looked out with a tentative smile on my face, and much to my surprise, they both smiled back at me.  Actually, Nick’s smile was more of a sheepish grin. 

“We just wanted to stop by and say thank you for meddling in our lives.”  Gil said.

“You’re welcome.”  I said with some confusion.  “Is there something that I need to know?”

“We could have gone on for years not knowing how we felt about each other.  So, we just wanted to say thank you.”  Nick said while pulling a single yellow rose from behind his back.

“Oh, Nick.  Thank you.”  I looked from one man to the other and that’s when I noticed Gil’s hand rest possessively on Nick’s hip.

“We don’t want to keep you, we have some…errands…to run, so we’ll be in touch.”  Gil moved to step away from the door.

“So that’s what they are calling it these days.”  I said with a knowing smile.

Gil actually blushed and Nick laughed out loud.  He was still laughing as the two men got into their SUV.  As they pulled away, Gil looked out the window and gave me a quick nod of his head.

As I closed the door, I wished I had been a fly on the wall of that room last night.

THE END