Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1) (5 page)

“No, I just wanted to have a delicious breakfast with a beautiful young woman. And check to make sure you were still here,” he added teasingly.

“Oh, yeah, that.”

The silence was heavy and awkward, and Diamond began to panic.  Was he flirting with her? It certainly seemed like it, but maybe that was just his personality. She didn’t really know. In her years at Aubergine, she had always done her best to avoid Paxton Donovan like the plague, never exchanging more than a casual hello, or a nod of acknowledgement as they passed in the hall. Had he even known her name? Also, was it hot in the café—or was it just her? Her entire body felt flushed, and all her senses were on high alert. She was thankful that the waitress chose that moment to show up with their food. In front of Pax she placed a bran muffin, and a small egg white omelet with mushrooms instead of spinach this time, and in front of Diamond, a plate overflowing with real honest to goodness breakfast food. Toast, eggs, bacon and pancakes.

“Oh my gosh! Really? Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. That’s twelve-grain bread with flax seed, homemade butter, farm fresh eggs from free range local chickens and whole grain pancakes with agave syrup. Oh, and turkey bacon.”

“Of course it is.”

She was shocked when Pax bowed his head in what she assumed was a silent prayer before unfolding his napkin in his lap and picking up his fork. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, so she did the same, minus the actual prayer. Pax Donovan was full of surprises it seemed.

The food was edible. Not what she would have picked, but close. The turkey bacon and eggs were close enough to the real thing, but she made a note to avoid the pancakes in the future.

She had thought she had reached her surprise limit for the past twenty-four hours, until Pax lifted his water glass in mid-air, and motioned for her to do the same.

“A toast,” he declared “To new experiences, and new relationships.” She raised her glass and clinked it to his, mimicking his smile with one of her own—but inside she was freaking out. New relationships? She assumed he was talking about their new employment relationship but she just wished he would have specified. Everything he said butted right up to that invisible line between acceptable and flirtatious and the line was getting blurrier by the second. 

It’s just his nature, her inner voice chirped. But was it? She had known Pax for several years, and this was a brand new side of him she was seeing.

Tonight was the night. She had done everything possible to keep her mind off of it all day. Unpacked and organized, explored the hotel, gotten in a short work-out, and gone over and over Pax’s rules and expectations so she could be sure she wouldn’t miss anything. She’d eaten. Small meals, but she’d eaten, as that was one of the rules. Eat healthy and no meal skipping. From what she had seen, she imagined he took it very seriously.

When there was nothing left to do but get ready, she had taken her time and been very thorough in that, too. She’d taken a long hot bubble bath, and shaved everything. Lotion and moisturizer, she’d clipped and filed her nails, waxed her eyebrows, and painstakingly applied her make-up.  She had also made an appointment to get a mani/pedi later in the week. Even that was on the list of expectations for health and hygiene—Pax expected his girls to look a certain way at all times. It was a little intimidating, but she understood, and she didn’t mind. It was actually one of her favorite rules, because Pax footed the bill. Part of their monthly expenses included a large allowance at the hotel’s high class salon.

And now, it was 9:45, and she was in a small dressing room off stage. She hadn’t seen Pax yet. The bouncer had shown her where to go and informed her curtly that she was going on stage in fifteen minutes. She was being spanked on stage, in front of what sounded like a big crowd that was getting bigger all the time. Diamond felt like she was going to puke—that seemed to be a common theme with her these days. She could hear the girls dancing—next week she would be joining them—and she knew her turn was coming.

Pax was supposed to be here. He said he would be here.  Pulling her phone out of the pocket of the cardigan that was part of her costume, she glared at it. She didn’t have Pax’s number. Somehow, with all they had been though, she had failed to get his number. It was probably in the copious amounts of paperwork he had given her, but that didn’t help her now.

She was approaching full-on panic attack mode when the door to the dressing room opened at five minutes to, and Pax stepped inside.

Running up to him breathlessly, she exclaimed, “Where were you?” She was visibly shaking, and she didn’t even attempt to hide the fact.

Pax was perfect, as always. Rubbing her arms soothingly, he apologized. “I’m sorry. I was on my way, and there was a brawl in the lower casino floor. I was the closest one, so I had to handle it.” He eyed her up and down, and sighed. “You’re shaking like a leaf, darling.” At her sad nod, he continued, “Look at me. I’m sorry. I’m here now. I’ll be here all night. I’m not going anywhere. You’re going to do this. You’re going to go up there, accept your punishment, and move on, and try to do better in the future, capiche?”

“Yes, sir.” The ritualistic words were a balm to her troubled soul.

“Good girl,” he murmured, still rubbing her arms, up and down from elbow to shoulder in a way that was soothing simply for its repetitiveness. “Remember, you have all the control. Look at me.”

Forcing herself to meet his dark gaze she shivered again at the intensity she saw there.

“What’s your safe word?”

“Rojo.” She told him, choking on a giggle. It was the Spanish word for red, as well as the name of the club, and for some reason it struck her as funny. It was probably nerves.

“And you’ll use it if you need to.” It wasn’t a question. The way Pax spoke it was more like a command.

“Yes, sir.” She nodded her confirmation, but, in the back of her mind, she wondered what would happen if she did. Would she automatically be fired if she couldn’t measure up? She opened her mouth to ask, hesitating as she pondered how to phrase the question without sounding like a total newbie.

On stage, the music stopped, and Pax sighed. “I have to go up on stage now. Derek will let you know when to come up.” Giving her hand a tight squeeze, he turned to go.

The intercom was piped into the dressing room, so the girls would know when to go on, so technically, she didn’t need Derek to come get her, and it was probably for the sake of making sure she didn’t chicken out.

The feed was quiet for just a minute and then the heavy thud of Pax’s thick boots across the wooden stage was heard. The crowd cheered and whistled. And why wouldn’t they? He was fine.

“Good evening, and welcome to Vanilla Night. We have some brand new entertainment lined up for you tonight.”  The crowd was silent, frozen with this new piece of information.  She could hear Pax’s light chuckle. “Don’t worry. The agenda hasn’t changed. You came here to witness a spanking or two, and you most definitely will. Our new girl, Diamond, has had quite a week, and she has been extremely naughty.”

The crowd went wild, and Diamond rolled her eyes. That was all he had to say to get their wild applause? This was a whole new ball game.  “I’m going to introduce Diamond in just a minute, but first I’d like to remind you all of the rules, in case we have any newcomers tonight.”  

There was a knock on the door, and Derek, the bouncer, motioned for her to follow him. The hallway to the stage was dark and narrow, and completely foreboding. A minute ago, Diamond had been laughing and thinking about Pax’s ass instead of her own—her own was now the one she was worried about. The closer they got to the stage, the more it tingled and clenched, as if it on its very own knew what it was about to be subjected to.  Derek led her right up to the side of the stage, behind the opulent red curtains. Pax had stopped talking for the moment but she could see his feet as he traveled across the stage dragging what looked to be a wooden chair behind him. Her heart pounded in her ears, and the cheers of the crowd were a constant cacophony of white noise in the distance. 

She watched his feet, as that was the only visible part of him, as they stopped center stage, placing the chair in position. Her breathing grew ragged as her heart pounded in her chest.

“I see you guys are getting anxious. I’m sure Diamond is, too. So how about we get this show underway?” The response was deafening. Diamond froze in place when she heard him call her name, inviting her to join him on the stage. This was so much different than just dancing in front of a crowd.

Pax called her name again, and the crowd tittered. Being a pro at working a crowd, Paz continued to egg them on. “Uh-no,” he crooned. “It seems like the naughty girl is a bit nervous about her spanking. I guess I must have forgotten to tell her that if she doesn’t come when I call her, she gets extras.”

That phrase did what nothing else seemed to be able to and propelled her feet forward automatically, past the privacy and safety of the red curtains, and onto the stage. The smart thing to do would have been to keep her eyes on Pax and only Pax. Of course, that wasn’t what she did. Her gaze was focused on the audience for the entire length of her short trip to center stage.  The audience was not what she was used to, to say the least. At Aubergine, the outfits had been your typical Vegas club outfits. People dressed for a night on the town, and she supposed that was true here as well, if your regular night on the town included your girlfriend wearing a collar with a leash attached.

There was regular clothing too—a lot of suits and leather, and several school girl costumes similar to the one she was currently wearing. Several people, men and women alike sat on the floor in a kneeling position next to their date.  She was more interested in staring at them, than they were at her. Finally, she reached Pax. He had sat in the chair as he watched her slow journey across the stage. When she was close enough to touch him, she froze again.

Pax sprang into action taking over completely.  He stood quickly, and leaned in close. “Follow my lead,” he whispered. “I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re safe. Except maybe, your ass,” he added with a grin. He took her hand and led her over to the chair, motioning for her to sit.

The turn of events made little sense to her, but she obeyed quickly, too overwhelmed by the crowd to do anything else. 

When she was seated, Pax gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it and turning back to address the audience.  “Diamond had a tough week,” he told them, his voice conveying genuine sympathy. “She came face to face with some bad memories, and on her birthday of all days. As a result, she made a series of bad decisions that resulted in her losing her job, and ending up here.” 

Pax knew how to work an audience that was for sure. He had them hanging on the edge of their seats regarding her with compassion and understanding. Then her turned to her and flashed that dazzling smile of his. “But, every cloud has a silver lining, and we sure are glad to have her here.” Cries of agreement floated up to the stage, making her feel special and welcome, and almost but not quite making her forget what was about to happen.

“I think,” he continued, addressing both her and the crowd simultaneously, “that she will come to love it here, and fit in nicely as part of our Rojo family, but first, we’ve got just one little matter to take care of. Here at Rojo, naughty girls pay the consequences of their actions.”

The audience, who had been quietly encouraging a moment ago, erupted into cheers of gleeful agreement that were nearly deafening, but Pax fixed his gaze on her, and, in that moment, it was if they were back in her room at Aubergine, just the two of them.  She was still getting spanked, but if she could drown out the spectators and focus only on the pain, and the fact that Pax was taking care of her, even while he busted her ass, she knew she could get through anything.

Taking her hand, he pulled her up, and switched places with her so that he was once again sitting, and she was standing beside him, positioned to go across his lap at any moment. She waited for his signal, but he didn’t give it. Instead, he held up his hand, winked at the spectators and opened his giant cargo pocket, shocking her when he pulled out a small maple paddle, to the delight of the audience.

“Normally,” he said for her benefit, “mistakes of this magnitude might get a taste of the cane or the strap, but this is only Diamond’s second spanking ever, and I think a good hard paddling will do the trick, and leave memories of this lesson for days to come, don’t you?” She barely heard the next bit over the ensuing roar. “Okay, young lady, bottoms up. It’s time for your spanking.”

The raucous cries of the crowd quieted to a whisper as Pax took her hand, and flipped her face down over his knees, with her torso hanging in midair off the chair. She braced her palms against the cold wood of the stage floor to steady herself. When he flipped up her short plaid skirt, exposing white ruffled panties, you could have heard a pin drop.

Turning her gaze away from the sea of onlookers, she focused her interest on a small scratch in the wood. It’s just me and Pax, she told herself. Just me and Pax.

* * *

He knew how to work a crowd and thoroughly chastise a naughty bottom simultaneously. It was a unique gift, and one that he employed regularly. He knew how to find that perfect balance between engaging his audience and focusing on reddening a bottom quickly and effectively.

But, tonight was different.  Tonight his stomach was in his throat and his hands were sticky with sweat. The raucous cheers from the crowd had him biting his tongue in annoyance, and he hadn’t even begun.

Diamond wiggled her bottom impatiently, and he willed himself to focus on the task at hand.  Punishing naughty showgirls should be second nature to him by now, as he had done it at least once a week for the last three years. She broke the rules, he chastised himself. He had never before spanked a girl for the sake of work, in private.  Having done this in private, and having shared those intimate moments of her emotional release was making it that much harder to get the job done in public. But he had to. This was their arrangement. This was her future. It was what she had agreed to and what she was expecting, and he had no less than 700 people waiting to see a show they had paid to see.

Diamond, he saw, had her hair fanned out in front of her face, which was turned towards the back of the stage. She was blocking out the crowd, and he wished he could do the same. But he was more than a disciplinarian—he was an entertainer.  Tucking Diamond in close to his waist, he tucked her legs underneath his own, so she wouldn’t be tempted to wiggle off his lap when things got intense. The first kiss of a wooden paddle generally had that effect.

Raising his hand, he made eye contact with the regulars in the first row. They were watching him with concern—even they could tell that something was different. Forcing his trademark devilish grin, he wiggled his eyebrows at them, and brought his hand down hard against the sheer white ruffles, watching in satisfaction as her bottom flattened under the force of his ministration. Her head shot up in surprise, and the audience went wild. Pax began to spank in earnest, finding his groove, even as his heart ached with confliction. Swat after swat rained down on her pert bottom. She wiggled and whimpered at the first few, but after a while had gone back to her audience ignoring stance and stopped reacting. They noticed, and were beginning to look bored. Pax himself was doing everything he could to keep them entertained but without a bottom’s reaction, it got boring quickly.

“It doesn’t quite seem like the lesson is getting through, does it?” addressing the spectators even though his eyes were trained on Diamond’s reaction. He was about to change the game plan. “I don’t think she’s getting the full impact she needs to feel remorseful for her naughty behavior—do you?”

They were nearly salivating. They knew what was coming, even if she didn’t. “No!” The tops in the audience cried joyously. The subs, or bottoms, looked pained. They were glad it wasn’t them up there, being spanked on stage for hundreds of onlookers.