by Raven Dark
Shayla opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. Ella hated the twinge of triumph that wormed its way through her.
“Right. Happy birthday, Shayla.”
She turned and clomped down the stairs without waiting for her sister’s reply. Ben sneered at her but she ignored him and stepped out into the pouring rain headed for the limo.
“Will you be going to the club then, Miss Clayton?” Her driver took her bag without being asked and opened the back door of the car.
Ella climbed in and shut the door. She stroked the silver ring in the shape of a whip on her finger. Rock’s back in town. God, the thought made her heart hurt.
“Miss? The club?”
“No, Chadwick. I have another stop I need to make first.”
* * * * *
“This isn’t going to work.” Rock dropped the pussy flogger on the table and scraped a hand through his dark hair. Why had he brought a woman back from the club knowing his head wasn’t in the game? A good Dom never, ever brought a sub into a scene when he couldn’t be completely focused on her needs.
“Sir?” The sub lying across the dining room table in the middle of the hotel suite looked at him over her shoulder, plump breasts squashed against the varnished wood. He hadn’t said she could stand up or close her legs.
“I’m sorry, Diane.” Rock took her arm gently, pulling her to a stand. “You did well, but that’ll be it for today.”
Disappointment flickered across her pretty face, eyes downcast. “Have I done something to displease you, Sir?”
“No, sweetness. I’m not in the zone tonight. I’ll hold you for a while if you need be, but then you should go.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Rock carried her to the couch that sat against the wall in the living room, gave her a cool drink, and wrapped her in a blanket. He drew her across his lap and closed his arms around her. Silently he stared out the window where night lay over this ridiculously peaceful, rinky-dink town.
It was too bad. With a halo of soft blond curls and long, dexterous limbs, she was nice to look at, and submissive enough to make any Dom’s pulse race. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t turn him on.
In the seven years he’d been on the scene he had never met a woman he could give himself to completely. Inevitably, he knew any woman he was with would eventually see the animal he really was and bolt. That’s why he avoided permanent relationships. At least he had since her.
“Sir? Are you ok?”
Focus, dumbass. “I’m good.” He ran his hand idly over her smooth cheek. The small tremor that went through her gave him a surge of male pride. “Such a sweet girl, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
She didn’t fill the emptiness that gnawed at him, merely covered the void over so he could keep it buried. She deserved better than this.
“Forgive me, sweetness. Dress now, I’ll get you a cab.”
Another shadow of disappointment flickered, but she pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles and got up. “Yes, Sir.”
“Do you want me to call Mac to find another Dom for you?”
“No, Sir. This was enough.”
He wished that were true. He’d barely swatted her ass a few times and had been about to start on her pussy before he’d ended the scene.
Diane scampered off to the hotel suite bathroom. Fuck. This is what he got for thinking with his cock instead of his head. He pushed up from the couch and pulled on his black short-sleeved tee shoving the hem into his black leather pants. Smooth, Rock. Real smooth.
The phone rang.
“McCarthy.”
“Mr. McCarthy, there’s a woman here to see you. I...I know you said you didn’t want to be disturbed, but you might want to see this one.”
Rock fought a grin. When he was in school, most wouldn’t have been caught dead talking to a roughneck kid like him unless they wanted a rep as trash. Amazing what a reputation as a hard-assed lawyer and a six figure payroll did for his social standing.
“Who is it, Carl?”
“Ella Clayton, sir.”
Rock’s body heat climbed a few degrees and his brain jammed.
“Mr. McCarthy? She’s the heir to Clayton Ent—”
“I know who she is. Send her up.”
He hung up. His muscles tightened as he imagined the woman getting in the elevator, waiting for it to arrive at his floor. The need to see her had torn at him from the moment he’d left New York for a case here. The whole two-hour drive down to Clayton-Moss, he’d convinced himself not to go near her. Only she’d come to him.
A small cough drifted from the bathroom. Shit. Diane. He hastily cleared clothes and books off the couch and made sure the bathroom door was closed. Annabella—he’d never be able to think of her as Ella—had to show up now when he had another sub in his suite.
Yet something dangerously close to hope squirmed in his belly. Annabella, in his life again. This woman who’d lost herself to his vicious passions so many times, who believed in him when no one else did. You idiot. Even if she wanted you, she’d never stick around if she knew the truth. Not after what you did.
The buzzer to his suite sounded and his stomach twitched. He opened the door.
She stood in the hall, leaning one shoulder against the wall, arms crossed, that warm look in her eyes she reserved only for him. His heart sped up.
“Annabella.”
“Hey, tiger.”
CHAPTER 2: MISTRESS E.
Holy fuck. After six years how could this woman still have the power to make him crazy?
Tiger. She’d always called him that before she’d become his sub. Her naturally throaty voice still wrapped around the word with the same heat that radiated from her hand whenever she’d wrapped it around his cock. Yup, all she had to do was open that sweet mouth of hers and he was lost.
One of her finely tweaked brows arched and a smile twisted her full lips. “You going to let an old girlfriend in or do I have to stand out here all day?”
Rock shook himself. He’d been standing there staring at her like a dolt for almost a full minute. “Of course, get in here.”
She embraced him, pressing her wondrous body against his. Generous breasts crushed against his chest. “How are you, Rock?”
“Day’s looking up.” He squeezed her close, grinning over her shoulder.
Everything in him blazed to life. He resisted the urge to run his hands over her ample hips, that curvy ass he knew too well. Her scent, vanilla cream and some kind of floral shampoo, filled his nostrils. He forced himself not to inhale or he’d never let her go. “Damn, you’re still gorgeous as fuck.”
“And you’re still a potty mouth, I see."
“That’s gotten worse with time.”
“Good.” She drew back and her green eyes danced as she inhaled deep. “Mm. Only you can make axle grease smell sexy.”
“Your hair’s up.” He gripped her hip to avoid yanking her tight bun out of the pins and letting that hair, like soft country sunlight, spill over her shoulders down her back. He wasn’t her Dom anymore; he had no right to dictate how she wore her hair, even if he hated those buns.
Annabella extricated herself from his arms, walking down the hall with her usual sexy sashay that drew his eyes to all her womanly parts. Her ass swayed and his cock jerked in response.
Christ, how was he supposed to spend any time near her if every part of him screamed to fuck her with one sway of her hips?
“So you still ride that motorcycle then?”
“Yeah. A nicer one, though.” At the couch, she twisted the silver ring on her finger. A smile pulled at his lips. “You still wear the ring I gave you.”
A hint of pink colored her cheeks and she slid her hands into the pockets of her blue jeans. His heart lifted. “Tell me you’re staying a while. Do you want a drink? Something to eat?”
She shook her head, perching on the arm of the couch. Her gaze searched his, intense. “What are you doing here, Rock?”
Gentle, tend
er, not the anger he’d expected.
“I have a case here. I’m—”
“Rock? Do you have a towel I can borrow?”
He bit the inside of his cheek and looked over his shoulder. Diane stood at the open door to the washroom, steam from a shower rolling out of the room, wafting off her naked form. As soon as she saw Annabella, her mouth dropped. She dove into the washroom, shutting the door.
“Oh, shit. Sorry, I didn’t realize you had a…a guest.”
Rock looked at Annabella whose face was scarlet. She rose to her feet.
“I didn’t realize you had a girl here. I’m sorry, I’ll just go.”
He stood and took her hands, loosening his grip when she raised a brow at him. “Don’t even think about it. You stay right there.” He allowed a smile to soften the command and then stalked across the room to a pile of towels left on the table where he’d kept the toys. He’d put them there in case Diane wanted them to pad her knees later. He shook his head. “For fuck sake, I have all the timing of a tax audit.”
He knocked on the door and shoved the towels into Diane’s hands. When he came back, Annabella was paying far too much attention to the gold inlays worked into the coffee table.
“Is she…” The hurt that flashed across her face cut at his heart.
“She’s not a girlfriend. She’s a sub. We were just finishing up.”
Shit, he hated how that sounded, like the hotel was the hourly type. “This is awkward. Sorry.”
“Why? We aren’t dating anymore, and we aren’t Dom and sub anymore either.”
Somehow that didn’t matter. Talking about another woman still felt like he was telling her she’d been replaced. “I know.” He seated himself beside her and squeezed her elbow. “Look, I hope you understand why I left. I had to get out of this damn town. Away from...you know. Everything.”
“You don’t have to say this, Rock.” She ran her hand over his cheek and his skin tingled at her touch. “I understood then and I still do. What I don’t understand is why you’re back.”
He couldn’t help playing with her a little. “Is it such a bad thing I’m here?”
“You know that's not what I meant.”
“Yeah.”
“I am curious about this, though.” She held up the Rolex he’d left on the coffee table during the scene. “You must have done well for yourself.”
“You could say that.”
Before he could elaborate, Diane came out of the bathroom looking freshly scrubbed and dressed. She looked at Annabella and reddened. “I’m so sorry, Miss. I’ll be gone in a minute.”
“No, take your time.” For some reason, Annabella’s eyes sparkled, watching the girl’s awkwardness. Diane went even redder and she wouldn’t look at her, mumbling as she dug a shoe out from under the table.
Rock dispelled the awkwardness with an introduction smoother than he expected.
“Ah, nice to meet you, Miss Clayton. I…um.” She shook the hand Annabella held out, then stared at it like she was trying to memorize something on it. Had her breathing quickened?
“You too.”
“Right, I…I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. You’re…I don’t want to say the wrong thing.”
Rock blinked watching her fumble her shoes on, looking like she was trying to escape as fast as possible. What was wrong with her?
Annabella stood up. “It’s okay, Diane. You can talk about who I am. I don’t mind if Rock knows.”
“Knows what?” Rock asked.
Diane dropped a shoe and cleared her throat. “That she’s, um.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “She’s Mistress E, one of the best Dommes in the BDSM scene.”
Rock stared at his former sub. Annabella shrugged.
“Do you do women too, Mistress?”
“Rarely. Mostly because women never ask.”
His thoughts reeled. When he and Annabella had been together, she’d always been a little sassy. He would never have thought of her as a Domme but he supposed it made sense she was a switch. Besides, he’d seen her take on the hardest men in her dad’s business. She could ball bust in the corporate world even at nineteen.
“Nice to meet you, Diane. I’ll see you at the club and we can play sometime.”
“That’d be great. Rock, see me out?”
“Sure.”
After walking Diane to the elevator, he returned and closed the door. His skin hummed with the awareness of Annabella in his living room.
She was still sitting on the arm of the couch, one foot bouncing. Nervous. Yeah, he still got to her. The tight fitting jeans and white T-shirt looked great on her, drawing attention to her curves but also making her look absurdly young. His Annabella had never been the formal type. A fact which drove her father crazy, but he loved that about her.
She nodded in the direction Diane had gone, her gaze playful. “She’s cute.”
Rock snorted. “Are you saying that as a Domme or as my ex?”
“Whichever makes you feel better.”
“Funny, I heard mention of a Mistress E. from one or two of the men at the club, but I never dreamed it would be you. How long have you been switching?”
“I don’t, not really.” She looked away. “I don’t sub anymore.”
“Never?”
“Nope.” A leaden sensation settled in Rock’s stomach as she got up from the couch and walked across the room to the window. She worked her hands over her lower back. From pain, or just a nervous habit?
He stood and followed her. His hands itched to work free the tension in her shoulders “Why did you stop subbing?”
“That’s a long story. I don’t want to talk about it.” She bowed her head and he could hear the pain in her voice.
Who hurt you? Protectiveness for her rode him hard but he forced himself not to press. “All right…” He bit back the urge to call her “girl,” the way he had when she was his. He had no claim to her now. If what she said was true, he never would again.
She turned to him. “I’ve asked you twice, more than I ever ask a man anything Rock. Why are you here?”
A smirk pulled at his mouth, heat spreading through his cock. “Nice dominance, Annabella. Too bad I don’t submit.”
“Ever?”
“Nope.” He wasn’t turned on by having a woman take control of him, but the possibility of fighting her for dominance made him hard as steel.
“Too bad you aren’t mine anymore. If you were, I’d tan your hide exactly like I used to when you stepped out of line.”
Her teeth flashed in a stunning grin. Despite what she’d said about not subbing anymore, he couldn’t mistake the heat in her eyes at his words, or the way she lowered them a fraction from his before her chin jerked back up.
“You still haven’t answered me.”
“And now I’m not going to. This is too much fun, watching you deal with a man you can’t command.”
“Ugh.” She spun to the window and he thought he heard her wince, her back tensing. “You’re as much of a jackass as you were six years ago.”
This time he couldn’t resist setting his hands on her shoulders and massaging them gently. His chest hitched when he felt the thick layers of tension there and the quivering breath she let out.
He put his mouth close to her ear. “You all right?”
“Why did you come back?”
“Disappointed?”
“No, but…”
The tightness in his chest loosened. He turned her around and cupped her face. “I’ve missed you, Annabella.”
Something flickered in her eyes, but he couldn’t define it. She didn’t speak, but lay her hand on his cheek. Did that mean she missed him, too? God, he couldn’t let her leave now, never knowing where things could have gone.
“Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”
She drew a shaky breath. “I can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“You know it can’t go anywhere. You are a Dom all the way and I can’t give you what you
want. Not anymore.”
He slid his hand over the nape of her neck. “That’s not true. You choose not to. A submissive never stops being what she is, even if she can be both.”
Ringing filled the room. The damned phone again. He walked over and snatched up the receiver. “What?”
Carl cleared his throat. “Er…the Mosses are here to see you, Mr. McCarthy. Shall I tell them to come back another time?”
“Oh, shit. No, send them up. I forgot they were coming. Thanks, Carl.” He hung up.
“Do you need me to go?” Annabella crossed the room to him.
Rock shook his head as he swept the toys and bondage ropes from the side table into a box and then threw the box into a closet. He was far from embarrassed by his kink, but no one in this town displayed the lifestyle openly outside of the club.
“Not at all. The Mosses were supposed to come over tonight to drop off some paperwork. They’re early.”
Her eyes widened. “Judy and Michael Moss? As in, the other founding family?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait a minute, Rock, how…” Questions swirled in her eyes and he gave a husky chuckle. The door buzzer sounded.
“I’m loving this.” Never in a million years would anyone have expected him to have business with the second wealthiest family in town. He opened the door.
“Rock.” Michael Moss shook his hand and his wife, Judy hugged Rock close. “My gosh, look at you. You’ve really done well, boy.”
“Thanks, come on in, have a seat.”
The couple greeted Annabella with hugs and looked between her and Rock, clearly trying to put together why she was there. Of course. Given their lifestyle choice and her father’s animosity toward Rock, no one outside the club knew they’d dated.
“Have you hired him too, Ella?” Judy asked. “Tell me he’s not going after Clayton Enterprises now.”
“I—” She stopped when Michael handed Rock a file from his briefcase.
“Here’s the paperwork. That should be all you need.”
“That’s perfect, Mike.” Rock clapped him on the shoulder. “I may be new as far as lawyers go, but I’ve learned from the best. I can handle scumbags like Jake Scalder, trust me.”
Annabella’s eyes grew huge. “You’re a lawyer now? When did this happen?”
