“Yes, sorry about that. Two bottles of water please, girl. That’s all for now.”
Lindsey got the sports bottles the fridge was always stocked to capacity with and his warm hands closed over hers when she slid them across the counter. The action startled her, but when she looked up at him, he was smiling at her.
“Chin up, girl. It’ll soon be over.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Nolan nodded and left, and Lindsey served the next customer.
That interchange set the theme for the rest of her shift, mainly because Rissa seemed to jump in and serve any of the Doms that looked ready to strangle Lindsey.
Eventually, there was a much-needed lull and Lindsey got to properly talk to Rissa.
“There is no need to protect me, you know,” she said. “Besides, I don’t want you to get into trouble with Master Jonas.”
Rissa laughed and looked over to Jonas, who hadn’t moved from his seat once all night, as far as Lindsey could tell.
“Daddy doesn’t mind. In fact, it was his idea, but don’t tell him I told you, or my butt will be sore.” She smiled at him, and Jonas’s eyes narrowed as though he knew what they were talking about. He tapped his nose and shook his head at Rissa. Rather than be worried about displeasing him in any way, Rissa blew him a kiss.
“Never mind Daddy, right now. Let me get a good look at that ring on your finger.” Rissa grasped her hand and gave a little jig on the spot that made Lindsey grin.
“Oh, I love this. So very classy. Did Logan pick it? He must have. It’s so his style.”
Lindsey blinked at the familiarity Rissa displayed when she referred to Logan, but before she could say anything else, Peyton waved them over to the bar.
“Not fair, you get to see it first. After all the running around I’ve been doing for those two, I should get first look.”
Rissa giggled, stuck her tongue out at her friend, and pulled Lindsey over to the counter, where she put Lindsey’s hand under Peyton’s nose.
“Here, look, isn’t it gorgeous?”
Peyton pursed her lips and traced her finger over the ring. The action made her own diamond engagement ring sparkle in the light. Considerably bigger than Lindsey’s, it looked perfect on the other woman’s finger, but Lindsey much preferred her own, if for no other reason that Sir had given it to her.
“Well,” Peyton said, “it’s pretty and all, but I’d have thought Master Logan would have got you something bigger. He can afford it, after all.”
“Peyton.” Rissa, all but glared at her friend, and Lindsey snatched her hand out of Peyton’s. “It’s perfect for Lindsey.” Rissa gave her a one-armed hug, and Lindsey blinked back tears at the open friendship the other woman showed her. She wasn’t at all sure she deserved it.
Rissa pulled back to study her and, snatching a serviette off the counter, handed it to Lindsey.
“Now, look what you did. You made her cry. What’s wrong with you, Peyton?”
Peyton blew out a breath, and shook her head.
“Oh, bother, ignore me. Pedro is in a foul mood, and he won’t play, because he thinks he might hurt me. As though that would be a deterrent for me. Jeez, men. Doms in particular.”
The tall brunette rolled her eyes and then smiled at Lindsey.
“Ignore me. The ring does indeed suit you, and I bet he said something really romantic when he proposed, right? He seems the type. Where did he pop the question?”
Rissa nodded her head eagerly, as though she, too, couldn’t wait for Lindsey to impart the answer to this seemingly all important question.
“Come on, spill. I promised Laura I’ll get the answer out of you. She sends her best by the way. Slade junior is running a fever after his jabs and she didn’t want to leave him with a sitter, otherwise she would have been here, too. Gotta show solidarity to our fellow subbie, right, Rissa?”
“Damn straight.” Rissa whispered that, and then looked over to Jonas. Again his eyes narrowed, but he didn’t come over as Lindsey had been half expecting him to. Instead he smiled at Lindsey, and nodded.
“I don’t understand why you’re all being so nice to me,” Lindsey said. “I mean, I lied to you all, too.”
Peyton waved a hand in a dismissive action, and Rissa gave Lindsey another hug.
“Poppycock, you had your reasons,” Peyton continued, “and besides, we can hardly point fingers, can we now? I auctioned myself off to get an inside story on the club, and Rissa here was hiding from everyone. Laura, too. Well, she had her own reasons for her auction, and got the shock of her life when Slade bid on her, so don’t worry about it.”
Peyton smiled at her, and Lindsey found herself returning that open grin.
“There now, that’s better. We got your back, don’tcha worry. Now tell me again about the proposal.”
Lindsey’s previous anxiety dissipated as she told them all about it. Both women dissolved into fits of giggles when she told them she had been naked on a spanking bench at the time. Likewise the oohhs and aahhs when she got to the part of the sapphire reminding Sir of the color of her eyes could no doubt be heard at the other end of the club. Especially as the music had stopped.
Oh, god, the music stopped and they’re all looking this way.
“Hey, pipsqueak, Peyton?” Mike Anderson, otherwise known as “brass” in the club when he was scening with his Domme, Scarlett, appeared behind Lindsey.
“It’s time.”
Chapter Fourteen
Logan watched Lindsey’s interaction with Rissa and Peyton, and heaved a sigh of relief when Lindsey’s tense frame relaxed. It was good to see her bonding with her fellow subbies, not least because they formed a tight unit, and their respective Doms wouldn’t look kindly on Lindsey if she upset them.
Not that his little bird showed any of the brattiness she had been known for in her disguise. He was damn proud of her, in fact. This whole evening couldn’t be easy for her. He knew it wasn’t, yet she carried herself with a quiet grace that spoke of her aristocratic heritage.
Hidden behind a pillar as he was, she had no idea he’d been watching her all night, much to Slade’s amusement.
“You’ll grow roots there, Logan.”
He’d shrugged his shoulders.
“They’re my roots. Besides, if you think I’ll not keep an eye on her, so that I can step in if anyone decides to take this planned punishment on by himself, you can think again.”
Slade had laughed.
“Anyone in particular you’re worried about there? Alexej, by any chance?”
Logan hadn’t managed to swallow his annoyed growl in time and Slade sobered.
“He wouldn’t, you know. I’d never have sponsored him if I had any doubts about him being a good fit for the club. You don’t know him that well, but trust me. He’s been a client of mine for years, and while he has his secrets that aren’t mine to tell, I can categorically state that he’s a great Master.”
Logan shook his head recalling that convo now. There was an underlying danger around the Russian that set his teeth on edge, and he didn’t want him anywhere near his girl. Pedro approached the bar as the music dimmed, and Logan frowned. He didn’t really want the Spaniard to touch her, either, especially considering the foul mood he seemed to be in.
He pushed away from the pillar as Scarlett approached with Mike in tow, and as they’d previously agreed, her sub made his way behind the bar. The girls were oblivious to his presence as they seemed to swoon over something his little bird said. He had a fairly good idea what it must be, because Lindsey rubbed her thumb over her engagement ring and her expression had that dreamy look he was fast beginning to love on her. She looked truly happy, until Mike made his presence known.
With the music now stopped he could hear Mike’s voice loud and clear.
“It’s time.”
Peyton and Rissa sobered, and Lindsey put a trembling hand in Mike’s outstretched one. The big guy smiled at her, while he bent his head close to her ear. Whatever he said to her
seemed to ground her, and then she looked across at Logan and smiled.
His chest tightened with unsaid emotion, and it took every ounce of willpower he possessed for him not to walk over there and put a stop to all this. However, if he did that, they would both have to find a new club, and Spectrum was home now. He knew it was for Lindsey too, so she had to make amends. The fine hair on his neck prickled, and turning around, he caught Alexej pulling closer.
Alexej nodded at Logan, and some of his anxiety over the man fled, as he positioned himself in front of the spectators which had gathered and, arms outstretched, moved them back to respectable distance. It seemed the whole club had ground to a halt, forming a semi-circle in front of the bar.
Mike guided Lindsey out from behind the bar. He proceeded to plait her hair in one long, thick braid to make sure it wouldn’t get in the way, and a visible shudder went through her. Strictly speaking, she didn’t need her hair tied up, but Logan knew it would help her to get in the right headspace to take her punishment, so he had insisted on it. Plus it would give everyone a clear view of her scars, and Logan intended to exploit that in her defense.
They all needed to know the reason why she’d hidden, and while he wouldn’t get into the mind-fuck that was the whole mess with her parents—that sorry scenario was not his to share—he was going to tell them about her accident. Logan schooled his face into a mask of indifference. It wouldn’t do to show his emotions now. His little bird needed him to be strong.
Slade stepped forward, and Mike put both his hands on Lindsey’s shoulders to guide her to the floor. Not that she needed him to, because his little bird sunk to her knees with practiced ease. Head bowed, hands clasped in her lap, she waited, and Slade’s stern features relaxed.
“Lindsey, do you know why you’ve been selected for this punishment?” Slade’s deep voice rung round the room and the last murmurs stopped. You really could have heard a pin drop.
Lindsey’s reply rung out just as clear, and he was pretty sure only he caught the slight tremble in her voice.
“Yes, Sir.”
Slade nodded, glanced at Logan, and gestured for him to come closer. Lindsey’s frame visibly relaxed when she must have seen his feet appear in her vision. Logan placed a hand on her head, just to be sure she knew he was here.
“Logan, are you taking ownership of this sub?” Slade asked.
Another murmur went through the crowd, and Logan looked straight at them when he replied.
“Yes, I do. Lindsey is my submissive, and thus under my protection.”
Slade smiled, and a strangled noise came from his girl.
Hold it together now, little bird.
While he couldn’t say the words out loud, he willed her to relax as much as she was able to.
“And do we have your permission to go ahead with the punishment?” Slade asked.
“You do, but I will say some words in defense of my submissive’s actions, if I may.”
Slade inclined his head, and Scarlett, Jonas, and Pedro stepped forward. As he might have known, Pedro voiced his opinion.
“I fail to see how anything you can say would change our mind on the punishment.”
Jonas put a hand on Pedro’s shoulder, whether to hold him back or to add his agreement to his friend’s words, Logan couldn’t be sure. Pedro shook the hand off, crossed his arms over his chest, and raised one dark eyebrow in silent query.
“Let’s hear Logan out first and then we decide, shall we?” Scarlett’s tone of voice sounded almost bored, but there were tension lines between her feline eyes, and when Mike stepped up behind her, she leaned into him.
“Indeed, proceed, Logan,” Slade said.
Logan grasped Lindsey’s chin and raised her head up and to the side, so that her scars were exposed to the room. Her eyes filled with tears at his action, but she didn’t resist him, and he smiled his approval, while bending close to her ear so only she could hear him.
“Good girl, trust me?”
He sensed rather than saw the tiny nod of her head, and keeping his hand in place, he turned to address the room again.
“You will have all seen these scars now. While I am sure you will all agree that they do not deter from Lindsey’s natural beauty for one minute, they are a source of considerable distress to my girl.” He paused when a tear fell on his hand, and his heart ached for his brave little bird. “Especially as in her station in everyday life as Lady Honoraria Callan-Brannan, she is under a lot of public scrutiny.”
Another murmur went through the crowd, and Logan breathed easier. Pedro, who knew this part, at least, didn’t relax his stance, however.
“For that reason alone, and to protect her parents from possible backlash in the media, she decided to register under her middle name and forego her title.”
Scarlett harrumphed, and Logan addressed her directly.
“I know, she should have come clean to you, at least, but she’s young and thus doesn’t always make the best decisions. We’ve all been there in our younger days, have we not?”
Jonas laughed.
“Speak for yourself, mate. Some of us are still young.”
A ripple of laughter broke out, and Jonas winked at him. Logan would have to buy him a drink, for sure, for helping to break the tension in the room.
Scarlett harrumphed again, and put her hands over her bump. She didn’t add anything else though, so Logan continued.
“The wig and the heavy make-up were part of that plan. Plus they avoided the inevitable questions of what happened to her. I know, she doesn’t like to talk about it, but I feel you need to know what happened. Lindsey was a promising show jumper, until the accident robbed her of his chance. While still at boarding school and out training on an unfamiliar horse, a motorbike spooked said horse. It took off in a panic and attempted to jump an iron rail fence. Needless to say it didn’t make it. Both the horse and Lindsey were impaled on the railings.”
Again he lifted her face to expose her scars.
“The horse was put down. Lindsey had to be cut from the railings. She’d broken and dislocated her jaw, but was lucky in so far that the spikes missed her left eye.”
“Dios.”
Pedro’s soft curse caused Logan to shift his attention to the Spaniard. The other man ran a far-from-steady hand through his black hair, and he’d lost his antagonistic stance. Slade looked ill, Jonas in shock, and the unflappable Scarlett had tears in her eyes.
“The whole accident had a snowball effect in her private life that isn’t for me to share. Suffice to say, Lindsey suffered physically, but much more importantly, emotionally. While repeated surgeries helped to erase most of the scars in her face, leaving her with only the ones you can see, her emotional scars run deep. When she found the club, she found a safe haven, somewhere where she could explore her submissive desires, and where no one knew her history. ‘Lindsey’”—he mimed quotation marks around that word with his free hand—“adopted a persona, protecting herself and her secrets. I recognized her as Honoraria almost from the minute I saw her, as I’m an old friend of the family. For that reason, I didn’t expose her straight away, when I should have. I take on full blame for that action, but I was certain that the Lindsey I knew had a very valid reason for her actions, so I opted to wait and see, especially as she didn’t scene.”
Another murmur went through the crowd, and Logan held up his hand.
“I know she did, before I joined the club, and she needs to make amends for those of you she’s wronged. I am not disputing that for one minute, but I hope now that you know her history you can at least begin to understand why she did what she did.”
Logan let his fingers slide to Lindsey’s shoulder and gave her a little squeeze before he stepped away.
Tears were openly running down Lindsey’s face now, and Logan itched with the need to take her in his arms and to kiss that misery away, but now was not the time.
Slade cleared his throat, and addressed the room.
“Thank you, Logan
for that impassioned defense of your submissive. We now need to decide on the appropriate punishment.”
He looked toward Jonas, who stepped forward with a sigh.
“If she was mine, I would paddle her ass until she couldn’t sit down for two weeks.”
Slade nodded and Pedro added his assessment.
“Sitting? She wouldn’t be able to walk for two weeks once I’m done with her.”
Lindsey winced and Slade shook his head.
“I’d put her in the stocks and let everyone have a turn at swatting her insolent behind.”
He winked at Logan when he said that, and then Scarlett stepped forward.
“Amateurs, the lot of you. A good whipping would do the trick. In fact, I’ll volunteer for the task.”
Alexej laughed, and also stepped forward, much to Logan’s annoyance.
“Oh, please, Scarlett, since you fell pregnant, you whip like a girl. Do let me. She would mark beautifully under my hands.” He put said appendages up in a consoling manner when Logan took a step toward him, and shrugged his shoulders. “Just saying. I know it’s not my place, more’s the pity.”
“Quite,” Slade said, and he held out his hand to quiet down the crowd. “I say we let Logan decide.”
Logan crunched his teeth in disgust. Trust Slade to put this back on him.
“Well, which shall it be? She’s your sub. You decide.”
“The stocks,” he said and Lindsey’s gasp made him feel a right heel. “You’re right that everyone she has wronged should get a chance to paddle her behind.”
Slade’s smile in answer didn’t reach his eyes, and Logan got the distinct impression that Slade hated this as much as he did.
“A wise choice, Logan. I will add the following to that stipulation. Paddle only, and no more than ten strikes each, agreed?”
Pedro, Scarlett, Jonas, and Logan all nodded their agreement, and when Slade snapped his fingers, Alexej and Nolan moved the stocks center stage.
“With your permission?” Slade took Lindsey’s hand and, at Logan’s nod, proceeded to pull her to her feet. She briefly looked toward Logan, who gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, and she then dropped her gaze. The club was once again deathly quiet as Slade led her through the parting crowd and to the stage, where he proceeded to secure her into the stocks. With her back to the front of the stage, bent forward in the stocks as she was, the short skirt barely covered her cunt.
Auctioned to the Gentle Dom [The Spectrum Auctions 5] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 16
