Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1) (4 page)

Well, crap, when he put it that way, she didn’t know which option was worse. Getting spanked on stage in front of hundreds of people, or spending her days gracing the covers of tabloids and having strangers track her every move. Pax’s proposition was crazy—and she was just as crazy for considering it—even for a millisecond, but God help her, she was considering it.

“I’ve never been spanked.  I think I might freak out. That would be really embarrassing.”

“You’re right. The crowd wouldn’t like that much.” He raised one eyebrow and the corner of his mouth turned up in a smile that was almost sexy. “I could give you a preview, so you’d know what to expect.”

He must be right, she thought to herself. I must be still drunk. I’m not thinking clearly. There is no way this is a better idea than just going home. I need to turn him down, and get as far away from here as possible. She opened her mouth to decline.

What came out was, “Okay.”

Pax wasted no time. Before she could even process what had happened, he sat down on the bed, and patted his lap.

She froze. Her mouth opened in a small O of surprise and her head began shaking back and forth, seemingly of its own volition.

“I’m going to give you two minutes to finish your coffee and gather your wits, and if you’re not over here, I’ll have to come get you.” He paused before continuing, menacingly, “You do not want me to have to come get you.”

As she sipped her coffee slowly, her eyes never left his face. He really was a handsome man, but that wasn’t a good reason for what she was about to do. Every part of Pax was large and intimidating, including his hands. Was she really about to let him maul her ass with those monster sized hands? A spanking might really hurt. And what if she cried? That would be mortifying.

Two minutes passed fast, and her stomach and mind were no more settled when Pax stood and rose slowly, crooking his index finger in a “come here” gesture, even as he walked towards her.

For a moment, he looked as if he were about to scoop her up and throw her over his shoulder but he stopped short, took her arm and gently tugged her across the room, sitting on the bed once more, and unceremoniously dumping her face down over his lap. Her face smooshed into the soft comforter, and she crossed her arms underneath her head and tried to tell herself that this was not really happening. That it was all just a very strange alcohol induced dream.

“Darling, I hope you have panties on, because this thick robe is not going to do.” She nodded yes, and he bunched the thick fabric at her waist.

One giant hand nearly covered her ass, and just sat there, resting as if waiting. “Now, if you were on stage, you’d be wearing one of our Tuesday night outfits. We have several styles, but I picture you in a nice collegiate type school girl outfit. Plaid skirt, white blouse, maybe a little cardigan, and some white thigh highs.  I’d turn to the audience, and explain to them what actions had led you to earn a spanking. If I planned to use an implement, I’d hold each one up, and talk about it for a few minutes.”

“Im-implement?” Her voice came out shakier than she intended. “What’s that?”

“Oh, you know—the thing I use to spank a naughty bottom. Paddle, strap, cane. That’s sort of thing.”

Diamond gulped as an involuntary shiver coursed through her body. This sounded serious.

“Your behavior last night for an experienced girl, would warrant a meeting with the rattan cane, but you’re quite new, and that’s not an implement for a beginner, so a small wooden paddle would probably do the trick.”

“Oh.” There was nothing more to say. Pax must have agreed, because he stopped explaining.

“This is a preview. This is not the real thing. It will be intense, but only a fraction of what you would experience tomorrow night.”

“Okay.”

“On stage you would address me as Sir, Master Pax, or for a few, even Daddy Pax. It’s up to you. I have no preference.”

“I could do Sir,” she agreed shakily, choosing what she viewed to be the lesser of three evils.

“That’s fine.”

“So, Miss Diamond, are you ready to pay the penance for your bad choices?” he asked, sounding grave.

Her stomach tightened in a hard knot, and she noticed she was breathing heavily.

“Yes, sir,” she whispered breathily, trying it on for size. It wasn’t as hard to say as she would have imagined.

His hand lifted off her rear, and a glance over her shoulder caught it mid-air pause, level with his shoulders. She looked away, quickly, unable to watch.

Nothing could have prepared her for the shocking rush of pain and adrenaline the first time his thick hand made contact. He wasn’t holding back. She knew immediately that he wanted to give her a genuine taste, and that he intended to make every swat count. His hand fell again and again, and she could actually feel her skin flatten and bounce back up with each thudding smack.

Staying stoic was a fight she was determined to win. But the struggle ended about the tenth time his hand fell across the crack of her ass, covering both sides at once in a punishing blow.

“Ow!” she cried out. “Okay, okay,
okay
! You can stop now. I get it.”

Pax had the audacity to chuckle. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m just getting started.”

She wasn’t sure what infuriated her more: that he laughed, that he called her sweetheart, or that he wasn’t planning on stopping.

“Stop! I said stop!” she yelled furiously, even as his hand fell across the lower crease, where her bottom and thighs met.

He stopped. “Are you declining the job?”

“I…” she paused and thought about going home to the large mansion with its constricting gates, and the constant barrage of news crews and photographers, even now. Especially now. It wasn’t worth it. “No?” She didn’t sound nearly as sure as she felt.

“Then we’re not done here.”

His matter of fact assurance was oddly comforting, and she forced herself to breathe through the pain, and focus on the end result, which was her anonymity—the freedom provided by being able to hide in plain sight. “Yes, sir.”

With her consent to continue given, Pax drew back his arm once more, and she winced at the fact that she could actually hear a whooshing sound as it traveled through the air on its way to her ass.

“Pax’s girls behave like ladies,” he warned between swats. It was an odd thing to say, as she hadn’t been one of his girls last night, and she technically wasn’t still, but the words gave her something besides the pain to focus on, and she was thankful for that. “There is a three drink per week limit, and only on your days off. There will be no drinking anywhere on the premises besides your own room, so if you want to have a drink at a bar, you leave the hotel.  You must be back and in your room at midnight each night.”

Three hard, earth shaking swats fell during his edict, and Diamond raised her eyebrows at the thought of having a curfew for the first time in nearly a decade, but it wasn’t an issue. Except for the occasional girls’ night out if her sisters came to town, she was usually safely in bed watching cable by 10:00 pm anyway, unless she was working. Then it was much later.

“You watch what goes into your body.” His hand had moved lower, and she shrieked as it fell across the top of her thighs. What a difference an inch or two made in her pain tolerance.  “You don’t go over your spending limit with room charges.” Two more swats fell across her thighs as he spoke, and she squirmed relentlessly, until he placed his other hand across her back to brace her. “Stop moving. You earned this spanking, and you need to take it. When you move, it messes up my aim.”

“Yes, sir,” she squeaked, shocked when a stray tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the thick cotton spread beneath her. That one sentence, that she had earned a spanking, had a powerful impact, cloaking her in shame, but also, covering her with an aura of peace, giving purpose to the act of being spanked. Diamond had always been a good girl, but even the tiniest mistakes had crippled her with guilt until she forced herself to move past them. Actions had never had tangible consequences, and her few past mistakes would hit her with guilt gut at the most random of times, often keeping her up at night, remembering the time she had cheated off Mathew Roger’s history test in the tenth grade, or skipped fifth period Spanish to take a long lunch. She wasn’t even sure what she had done last night, but the fact that she could be punished for it, and move past it, was oddly freeing, and for some reason the freedom manifested itself in loud, wracking sobs.

At the shift in her demeanor, she worried that Pax would have eased up, spanked lighter, or stopped altogether. The opposite was true. The swats fell faster and harder, with no time at all in between them, as if he had suddenly grown an extra hand. Every inch of her bottom was covered with heat. Blow after blow fell with no conceivable pattern, always leaving her wondering where the next one would hit.

The sobs kept coming, until the bedspread beneath her was soggy, but she felt better than she had in years. She cried for the mistakes she had made last night, not even fully knowing the extent of them. She cried for her identity, living a life of literal hiding, and not being able to live like a normal carefree twenty something. Most of all, she cried for her mama.

“That’s right, honey,” Pax crooned, finally slowing his pace, and the intensity of the swats, but not stopping. “Let it out. A good spanking is a powerful tool for what ails you.”

She quieted, pondering the truth in his words. Had he known that she would react this way? She would have thought the intensity of her reaction would have scared him, but the opposite had seemed to be true. Once the tears had begun to flow, Pax had become more dedicated, a man on a mission to break her down, for the sake of building her up.

He kept spanking, slowing and lightening as her sobs subsided, rubbing her back lightly through the thick robe with the hand that had earlier braced her in place.

Finally, he stopped. Lowering her robe to cover her now throbbing back end, he helped her into a sitting position beside him, smiling when she winced as her bottom touched the bed for the first time.

She wiped her tear stained cheeks with the back of her hand, and gave a piteous laugh. “I’m sorry. I must look a mess.”

He shrugged it off. “No, you have that freshly spanked look. Slightly embarrassed, a little pouty, big wet lashes, and the most adorable tear-stained face. And you look a million times lighter. Besides, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“I,” she faltered, searching for the words. “I didn’t know I would react like that. I’m sorry—and oddly grateful.”

It was his turn to look slightly embarrassed—an expression that seemed oddly out of place on the large man with the chiseled rugged features. “Like I said, a good spanking can be quite cathartic. You obviously needed the release. I’m just glad you didn’t jump off my lap and slug me mid-spanking.”

She laughed. “I’m not saying I didn’t think about it a time or two. But now, I feel… I don’t know that I can put it into words. So I’ll just say thank you, and leave it at that.” The absurdity of her response struck her. What an odd thing to say to a man she barely knew who had spent the last thirty minutes spanking the living daylights out of her until her ass throbbed and tingled. She wondered if there would be marks. She imagined it had to be pretty red at the moment. It certainly felt as if it were up in flames.

Pax nodded. And she marveled at the understanding and compassion conveyed in the simple gesture.

“So, are we on for tomorrow? What’s it going to be?  Move into the Rojo and consent to rules and discipline, or go home to LA? It’s nearly noon, so whatever your choice, you need to get moving.”

“Yes, sir,” she agreed, sticking with the title even though she wasn’t over his knee any longer and it wasn’t required. It just felt right.  “I’d like to be a Rojo girl.”

At six o’clock in the evening, Pax finally left the top floor of the Jewel tower where his girls all had rooms. Diamond was settled in, and officially one of his girls. Paperwork had been signed, rules had been laid out, and details had been discussed. He was exhausted, but there was no time to rest. He had to meet Jason downstairs for dinner to go over the schedule for the week. Besides, he could use the carbs. All week long, Pax adhered to a strict protein and fiber based diet. His Monday night dinners with Jason were his one indulgence. Rojo was home to one of the best Italian restaurants in the state, and it was always their pick for dinner. They had a standing reservation at the best table, and when he got there, Jason was already waiting.

“You look like shit,” his friend said as he stood, greeting Pax with a manly hug, before sitting back down and opening his menu across the table in front of him.

“I didn’t sleep. I had to babysit a drunk girl, and then do your dirty work and fire her on the morning after what was probably one of the worst days off her life. Coincidentally, yesterday was also her birthday.” He didn’t add “asshole” at the end but he spoke in a way that it was clearly implied.

Jase, shrugged, unaffected by the news. Stubborn didn’t even begin to cover it.  “But it’s done? She’s on her way back to wherever the hell she came from to lick her wounds?”

“Actually, that’s one of the things I need to talk to you about. I hired her. She’s agreed to be the entertainment for tomorrow.”

Jason shook his head, looking greatly unamused at the recent turn of events. “You’re an idiot. You’re making a huge mistake.”

“Even you admitted that last night was completely out of character, Jase, it’s fine. She was under a lot of stress.”

“You’re an idiot,” his friend repeated. “That kind of behavior is a slippery slope. It could be the beginning of the end.”

“You’re a pessimist,” Pax countered. “Everyone needs a second chance now and again.” He pegged his friend with a hard glare, fraught with meaning. Jason’s entire life was built on second chances.

Jason caught the meaning, but shrugged it off. “Have it your way. Don’t come crying to me when you figure out I’m right.”

“I won’t, because you’re not going to be. I take it this means you want off the schedule for tomorrow?” Not that it mattered. The way Jason was behaving, Pax wouldn’t have let him touch Diamond from ten feet away with a feather.

“It’s all you, buddy. I’m out of this one,” Jason agreed, smiling for the first time since Pax had sat down.

“Fine. I’ll switch with you this time. You can take next week, and you better be able to play nice by then.”

Jason smirked. “She’ll be gone by then. Divas like that don’t take very well to correction. She’ll be long gone after the first swat, and you’ll be left with no entertainment.”

“I’ve already spanked her. She’ll stay. Don’t worry about it. And stop being such an ass. There’s a lot of shit you don’t know.”

“Enlighten me then.”

Pax leaned across the table, opening his mouth to tell the story, but they were interrupted by the waitress showing up to take their order. Pax ordered a carafe of red wine, an antipasto appetizer and the Pasta Primavera with shrimp. His mouth was already watering in anticipation. Jason ordered scotch on the rocks, and the lasagna Bolognese. His friend was not a health nut.

When the waitress left, promising to return shortly with their drinks, Pax leaned over once more, and quickly whispered the details that he had learned concerning Diamond identity and the circumstances of her mother’s death. “Obviously, this is confidential,” he added, but he wasn’t worried. Jason was an ass sometimes, but Pax trusted him with his life.

“Wow.” Jason sat back in his chair, folded his arms behind his head, and let out a low whistle. “That’s heavy. You win. That definitely counts as extenuating circumstances. “

“Mmhmm”

“Wow. So she was hiding at Aubergine all that time? In plain sight—using her own name as a cover?” Jason let out a loud guffaw of laughter. “Man that’s genius. She really outsmarted those vultures, didn’t she? Are you going to let her keep her own name as her stage name again?”

“I might. We haven’t really talked about it. There were more important things to discuss.”

“Man, I guess so.” Finally, relaxed and smiling, Jason slapped the table jovially. “You’re a good man, Pax Donovan. I hope it doesn’t come back and bite you in the ass.”

“Don’t worry. It won’t”

Their food came, and the conversation turned to other work related issues. Planning the month’s big events, and working out their respective schedules.

Pax was glad the Diamond issue had been resolved. He hated that side of his friend, and his tendency to be a cold and unforgiving bastard. For reasons he wasn’t able to explain, Pax felt fiercely protective of his new hire—more so than with any of his girls—even the ones that had been with him since the club opened. The feelings he was having were unsettling to say the least.

* * *

Diamond woke up Tuesday morning and shot upright, taking in her unfamiliar surroundings with a groan. The past forty-eight hours had felt like a dream, like something out of the dirty books her sister Ruby was always reading. But it actually was her life. What in the hell had she been thinking, accepting a job from Pax and agreeing to be spanked on stage?
Tonight
.  Before she could process the thought, or even open her eyes fully, there was a knock on the door. Diamond eyed the clock. It was only 8:00 am. Surely it was much too early for housekeeping?

There was no one else it could be. She had been here less than twenty-four hours. She hadn’t told anyone she was here. After the stress of moving, and the emotional release of the spanking, she had been drained, and had fallen asleep before dinner, sleeping straight through. Not even her family knew where she was. The only person who knew—she thought as she swung open the door, fully ready to tell the maid not to come back until after eleven—was…

“Oh, it’s you.”  There were certainly much worse sights to wake up to than the one she was currently looking at. Pax filled her doorway—all six feet two inches of him, looking fine as hell and really intimidating in black cargo pants, and a black hotel T-shirt stretched so tightly across his muscles that it looked as if it had been painted on. Not a bad sight at all, she mused to herself. Still, it was hardly necessary for him to come to call at eight in the morning.

“It’s early,” she stated grumpily.

Pax looked her up and down, taking in the oversized T-shirt that barely covered her ass.  “Good morning.”

“Checking to make sure I didn’t run away?” she quipped, rolling her eyes.

“Something like that. I was coming to see if you’d like to join me for breakfast. I could have called, but I’m more persuasive face to face.”

“I see. You assumed I would need the full extent of your persuasive powers?”

Pax stepped inside, leaning against the wall behind the door, and crossed his arms over his chest in that way he had. “I didn’t want to take a chance. I admit, I’m really hoping you’ll say yes.”

“I’m hardly dressed for breakfast,” she said gesturing at her morning attire, wincing when her stomach growled loudly.

“I can wait.”

“Fine.” She shut the door behind him, every fiber of her being telling her to say no—to close the door in his face, to pack up her stuff, and to run back to LA as fast as she was able. But then he smiled. His dark skin was a perfect showcase for his pearly whites, and those eyes. She had known they were nice, but when he smiled, it was an instant transformation from tough and intimidating to rugged and sexy as fuck.

Her panties instantly dampened, and she was just thankful she was wearing any. Rushing to the closet, she grabbed the first things she put her hands on and hauled ass to the bathroom.  She showered, dressed, and put on a small amount of make-up in record time. You did not keep a man who looked like that waiting—especially not if said man was a spanker.

Was he a spanker outside of work? She wondered. He must be—how would one get in a profession like his otherwise? Did he have a girlfriend? A fiancée? Wife? Did he expect her to follow rules as he did “his girls?” Did he spank her if she didn’t? As hard as it was to imagine—it was harder not to imagine. Pax Donovan was a dominant man. She suspected it was true in all areas of his life. Not that it mattered. He was her boss, and she did not need to be thinking of him this way at all. What in the hell was wrong with her? It’s just a friendly employer-employee breakfast, she told herself. Nothing more than that, so cool your jets.

Taking a deep breath to clear her mind, she slipped on a pair of sandals, and opened the bathroom door. “Ready.”

Pax smiled, extending the crook of his arm, gesturing for her to slip her own arm through his. That was interesting to say the least, and not something a normal employer would do, but Pax was no normal employer.

He took her to a small organic café on the other end of the hotel. “I like to walk here in the mornings, so I can get my exercise in.”

It was hard not to scoff at that. Any stranger off the street would be able to tell that this man was no stranger to a gym.

The café was small and casual, and Pax led her to a bistro table in a back corner.  The hostesses must have owner radar because they had menus and drinks before they had even fully sat down.

She smiled, amused. “Great service.”

“Generally. The foods good too. I’m getting the same thing I always do. Take some time to look at the menu.” Even as he said it, he closed his own and set it down flat on the table.”

“Creature of habit, huh?”

“Discipline comes in many forms. I like to practice self-discipline, and follow stricter rules than I expect of others.”

“Good to know,” she mused, trying not to giggle over the image of Pax spanking himself for breaking a rule. She knew that was not what he meant by self-discipline, but she still couldn’t get the thought out of her head. Besides, Pax didn’t seem like much of a rule breaker. His looks screamed dangerous bad boy, but she suspected that was only true in the bedroom. And, there it was again. If she could go more than ten minutes without thinking of her new employer in that way, that would be awesome.

The menu was not her usual breakfast fare. She wanted biscuits and gravy, or bacon and eggs. This was all egg whites and spinach and bran muffins. She wondered if Pax would let her get away with just coffee again. Probably not. Her stomach had already given her away and she was starving.

“You’re eyeing the menu pretty dubiously. Not a health food fanatic?” Pax grinned.

“Am I that obvious? I’m sure it’s all good, I just haven’t had a substantial meal in a while, and I was in the mood for something a little heavier.”

The waitress was approaching and she groaned. Pax plucked the menu out of her hands and handed it to the woman. “Hey, Mary, I’ll have my usual, and the lady here will have the newcomer’s special.”

The waitress was gone in a flash, leaving Diamond confused and annoyed. “I can order for myself. And what’s the newcomer’s special? I didn’t see that on the menu.”

“It’s not on the menu. I’ll tell you what, if it doesn’t meet your needs, I’ll take you wherever you want to go and buy you the biggest, greasiest breakfast they have.”

“Now you’re talking. So what’s the occasion anyway? Did you think of more rules? Find more papers I needed to sign? Checking to make sure I didn’t run away in the middle of the night?”

“None of the above. Well, a little of the last one maybe.”

“Ha.  Well, I’m still here. You can rest easy.”

Pax raised his eyebrows in amusement. “The real question is, are you still going to be here tonight?”

“I think so.” She laughed. “Calm down, Pax. I’m not planning on going anywhere. I’m grateful and excited for this new opportunity, and only a little bit nervous about tonight. I trust you.” She stopped cold on the last sentence. “You are going to be... the one up there with me tonight, right?” She didn’t ask if he would be the one spanking her, but that was what she meant. Those types of thoughts were still too difficult to voice out loud without blushing furiously. She was pretty sure she was bright red just thinking them. This stuff was not for the faint of heart.

“I’ll be there with you,” Pax said seriously, taking her hand across the table. “I promise.”

In that moment, a line from every romance novel she had ever read suddenly made sense. When their hands touched innocently over the table, she swore her skin actually tingled, and the sensation traveled throughout her body, and down to her nether regions. She dropped his hand quickly. Oh, this was not good. She could not be crushing on her boss. Chill, he’s probably like this with all his girls. Just because the meaning of Pax’s girls wasn’t what she had assumed, didn’t mean that Pax himself was not a player.

“So, this breakfast, is it like a thing? Do you do this with all your girls on a regular basis—sort of like a check-in meeting?  Or is it just with the new ones—like a welcome to the club breakfast?”

“I have never done this. I’ve never had a one-on-one meal with one of my female employees. Does that make you uncomfortable?”

It did a little. It also made her incredibly pleased. And nervous. “Okay, so… was there a reason for this breakfast meeting?”