Bailey: Independence #1 (34 page)

“Yes, sir.” She kept her head up even when her knees wanted to shake beneath her. She moved to the end of the desk, placed her palms around the edge and separated them before taking a step back and spreading her feet.

Gabriel brought a bottle of lotion from the shelf and poured some into his palm.

“Take your panties off and resume that position, Bailey.” He waited, setting the lotion on the desk and stepping behind her. “Beautiful. I should have used that crop on Janelle for touching you.”

She pulled the long hair to one side and exhaled when his palm began massaging her ass. Firm, steady strokes; first on one side and then the other, she felt like purring when he added more lotion to his hand and continued. Then his palm wandered.

Lower and around the globe that hadn’t been struck. By a palm or the crop. She couldn’t stop her body from jumping slightly when his other hand slipped between her thighs to caress the labia she felt swelling with each of his strokes. It didn’t surprise her that the stinging in her ass had faded considerably with each foray of his fingers through the damp center.

“Is this because of the spanking, Bailey?” Gabriel moved closer, pressing his cock against her thigh.

“The spanking hurt. It…it isn’t the same when it’s not you,” she admitted quietly, gasping when two fingers abruptly thrust into her at the same time his thumb pressed hard against her clit.

“You’re aroused now. Do you want to come?”

Gabriel laughed at the soft groan. He could almost hear her thinking of which is the right answer to his question. Only this time, his sub selected quickly and made his cock harden just a little more.

“If it pleases you, sir,” she whispered breathlessly. A well of relief burst from inside her when she heard the sound of crinkling foil and a zipper. She kept her eyes closed, listening to the muted sounds of the club and his feet moving over the carpeting of the modest sized office.

“Come over here, Bailey,” Gabriel had moved to the sofa, standing beside it with the front of his pants open but nothing showing. He’d removed his shirt and tossed it to the side. He watched her straighten in the dim lighting of the office and step out of the panties she’d let fall to the floor. The long, loosely curling red hair hung just past her shoulders as she walked to him, still wearing her heels and stockings.

Gabriel sat on the sofa, sliding forward and lowering his slacks at the same time, his cock was already sheathed and so hard it hurt. He took her hand and pulled her onto his lap, his fingers going to the swollen halves and the heat down the middle. He spread the sticky honey and urged her thighs apart.

There was no beginning. No pretense. He kept his gaze on the shining green of her eyes and positioned his cock, pulling her hard against him and thrusting up at the same time.

Bailey cried out at the sudden invasion. Hot and hard and touching every nerve that needed to be touched as he pulled her down onto his lap.

Gabriel couldn’t remember needing, wanting a woman as strongly as he did the redhead on his lap. Buried balls deep, he lowered the lace covering her breasts at the same time his hips urged her to rock gently back and forth. The low groan she offered told him her body had found the right angle for her clit to strike against his pelvis.

He watched her wrestle with whether she could touch or not, her hands falling to her thighs until he momentarily left playing with her breasts and carried her palms to his chest.

“I need your touch, Bailey,” he murmured, sliding his hands along her arms until he could spear ten fingers into the thick, dark hair. He pulled her mouth to his, his tongue invading her mouth as purposefully as his cock had taken her body. He arched his hips sharply, her knees the only thing holding her against him.

Bailey gasped into his kiss, her arms winding around his neck. She tilted her hips, rubbing her clit against him. Her breasts ached for more of his touch but she settled to have them pressed firmly against his chest. Everything in her body clenched and tightened around him; twisting and squeezing hard as the convulsions wracked her senses. It had been building all day. Through lunch and into their evening together.

She’d wanted him! She thought about him and saw his laughter and his smile when she closed her eyes. Like it or not, he was in her blood with the speed of a very fine liqueur.

“Harder,” she ordered raggedly, the edge of another orgasm just outside her reach. He’d taught her about coming and she wanted him along with her this time. She lifted and thrust down, meeting him and taking him.

“Demanding little sub.” Gabriel met her hunger, his hands sliding to grip her hips and keep her from moving. “So sweet…so fucking good…” his fingers tightened, tilting her forward and thrusting hard, listening to the low, sexy cry from her lips as her body went over the edge and he soared with her. Thick, hard spurts left his body, the hard muscle surrounded by velvet, rippling walls, draining him completely. And of more than simple fluids.

Gabriel let his face fall into her shoulder, his arms around her tightly as he inhaled the scents that had become Bailey in his mind. Their hearts hammered as one, against each other and slowing together. There was an amazing peace just holding her, stroking his palm over her head and listening to them both breathing.

“You should put lotion on me more often,” Bailey breathed deeply snuggling down against him, relieved when he chuckled. The sound moved through his chest and warmed her a little more.

“I honestly had intentions of packaging you into the SUV and taking you home. It’s bothering me that you seem to attract the idiots I let into the club.” Gabriel watched strands of deep red that had begun returning to their natural curl. He let them sift through his fingers, reluctantly lifting her and sitting her on the sofa. He disposed of the condom and brought her a bottle of water after draining half of it.

“They aren’t your fault, Gabriel,” she said after drinking deeply. “So many things are happening to us at once,” she heard the low, husky sound of her own voice and wondered who it was. “It’s so hard to understand when things are alright and when they’re not and what category they fall into.”

“And you’re too stubborn to accept help managing it all.” He’d left his shirt off, his slacks buckled and closed as he dropped to his heels in front of her. He urged her to finish the water. “Talk to me, Bailey.”

“I’m not stubborn,” she said, frowning when all she received was an arched brow. “I’m not. Not really. It would be so much easier to simply let you take over but I have to manage on my own when…when this isn’t anymore,” she finished with a slight quaking in her voice. “You have so much you handle…I can manage my own life. But I appreciate the offer. Sir.”

“I’m the one with the right to release you, pet,” he paused on purpose. “Or not.”

“You said I had the right to request a different Dom,” she pushed with the stubbornness she had said wasn’t her.

“You have that right,” the words burned coming out of his throat, his hands tightening on the edge of the sofa. “Are you making that request?”

“No, Sir.”

Her answer was instant, he thought triumphantly. She was his for a while longer. Maybe that was his answer, too, he thought abruptly. He’d find her a Dom interested in a relationship, not just the play.

“Get dressed. Time to head home.”

“Yes, Sir,” she nodded dismally and slid to the side, heading to the pile of clothing. She’d seen the anger in his eyes and it hurt that she put it there. As much as she admired Mistress Dianna, she was wrong. He didn’t want her long term. It was all the game, the play.

Gabriel stared at her back as she dressed. How the hell did everything go to shit so damn fast? One minute he was floating in ecstasy with Bailey, the next he was trying to find her another Dom? Where the hell was his head?

No, that was the best idea, he argued irrationally. Get her completely out of his system and his life. He could go back to once a week with a stray sub at the club and things would return to their controlled normal for him. The sex had been…fine. Acceptable, he corrected. He spent most of the week rearranging his schedule and having Janet adjust things so he could fit time into his life for Bailey and that wasn’t how he operated.

Bailey fought the urge to cry. She’d almost said she didn’t want another Dom. She hadn’t known she wanted him until he’d taken control. But it would be a lie. She wasn’t interested in another Dom. He would always be her Sir in her mind and when he ended this, she would end it as well. She withdrew as they walked through the club toward the entrance, falling back into observing and listening.

“Why are there so many…” She struggled with the right word, his gaze on her for a moment as they crossed to the parking area. “Not everyone uses the same words or…or behaves the same.”

“It depends on the choice of the Dom and what’s negotiated between them,” he explained, sliding easily into trainer mode. “We have a more casual style between us. I’m not interested in a twenty-four hour mindless decoration. If you were more rebellious, more resistant despite your decision to be there, I might implement a stricter protocol. The length of space between us when we walk; a collar with leash attached or on your knees, crawling behind me. Your eyes would always be down and speaking out of turn would always result in punishment. Then there are those Dom’s and Domme’s that enjoy the third person and high protocol. That seems too lordly and mighty for my tastes and frankly, annoys me.”

Gabriel opened the door for her, gripped her waist and lifted her to the inside. A momentary flash of thought had him installing a step for her.

For an instant their eyes met and she offered a smile of thank you that vanished quickly at the dark expression on his face. She didn’t know what sent him from a nice, conversational mood to the Dom look that had her worrying and thinking over what she’d done to earn it. She shifted her gaze and slid her legs inside, quickly buckling her belt and lifting her pack from the floor. Her arms wrapped around it, her eyes focused on the many lights of the night around them as he drove.

“I don’t want to embarrass you,” she said quietly. “Your friends are really nice.”

“You’ve won a few new friends there, Bailey. You fit nicely with them and seemed to enjoy yourself the other night.”

“Oh, I did,” she answered honestly, glad he wasn’t scowling again. “It’s an interesting group. It’s definitely not something you can talk about with all your friends. I think some of them have the same attitude as the detective.” She thought carefully about her next question. “The woman…mistress…who hit me…do you know her?”

“I don’t think I know her well enough,” he admitted, an annoying something nagging at the back of his mind when he thought of Janelle. “I know she’s been in the life long enough to know better than to take control of a sub the way she did. You’re wearing a collar with my initials on it. Clear and easily noticed,” his head shook at the memory of what he’d witnessed. He wondered if he was wasting his time, but he spoke firmly. “Bailey, if anyone in the club ever does that again, I want the word ‘red’ shouted out at the top of your lungs. Do you understand me? No one has that right without discussing it with both of us. Just like Dianna did when she wanted to talk to you. Are we clear?”

“I need a manual,” she said, relieved when he laughed. It was a good sound, she thought, sighing and nodding. “I understand. I think I was so focused on making it to the bathroom…I reacted first and then…” She sighed. “Why do you think she was interested in what the police wanted?”

“I don’t know. But I will find out. I’ll handle her and the detective, Bailey.”

“Of course, Sir.” She knew there was tone. It was almost impossible to avoid it when he thrust himself into parts of her life that weren’t part of the play.

With his jaw set, his teeth ground together when she hopped out at the house and moved quickly through the cold to the front doors. Another momentary thought had him finding her one of the spare keys and giving her the codes until something inside him slammed that door shut.

A shiver raced through her as she waited for the door to be opened but she wasn’t cold. She wanted somewhere to hide. Someplace all her own where she wouldn’t do anything but cry for a while. She’d been nothing but mixed up that last ten days and he wasn’t making it any easier. Add to that the confusing conversation with Mistress Dianna and the crazy person trying to kill her. Oh, yeah, things have just been a nice, smooth river of fun.

Bailey stepped past him and went straight to the bedroom and into the bathroom. The door might have slammed a little. Just a little. She stripped, washable things into the basket and the others folded until she was ready to leave the bathroom. She filled the huge tub and sunk into the hot, steamy water, eyes closed as she worked to breathe through the stinging tears. She sunk beneath the water, holding her breath and counting until she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Trying to drown yourself?”

Surprise popped the wide green eyes open, the dark expression on his face came through the cascade of hair and water as she blinked and blinked some more.

“No. No, of course not!”

“Why the red eyes, Bailey?”

“I locked the door,” she said sullenly, her head swiveling when he arched a brow and looked in the opposite direction of the bedroom door to the bathroom. There was a hall entrance as well and she’d forgotten that one. “Oh.”