Bailey: Independence #1

by Karen Nichols

  “Stephanie Blake is Belinda’s younger sister by two years. You saw the photo on the society page,” he said simply, the one shoulder she raised and let fall making him sigh.

  “Was it a secret?”

  “It was an ambush,” he answered coldly. “Belinda has decided she made a big mistake and sent Stephanie to assess my interest.”

  “Did she…play? Your ex-wife?” Bailey wasn’t sure why she asked. She really didn’t want to know. She should have insisted he take her home since the lieutenant dismissed her ride. She didn’t care. He was just a sex partner. Like she had a lot of those. Her eyes rolled at the conversation inside her head.

  “No,” Gabriel walked around her, putting himself into her line of vision and forcing her face up to look at him. “I don’t know if she does or not. That was before I realized what I was, what I needed. She isn’t in my life and hasn’t been for almost twelve years, Bailey. I can’t stop people from snapping photos with their damn cell phones.”

  “I haven’t said anything, Gabriel. I don’t care who you date.”

  “The hell…I did not date her.”

  “You said you weren’t interested in anything except the play.” She stepped to the side, her eyes catching on the wide staircase. “Does that lead below? Can I go down?”

  “Go explore. I’m going to change clothes and I’ll be right down,” he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Bailey, we’re going to talk. About the play but about other things, too.”

  “Whatever. Keeping me alive means the police won’t arrest you for murder. It’s okay. You have a life really excused from what I’m part of and that’s fine.” She tugged on her hand and kept walking without looking back, even when he swore loudly. She heard the heavy sound of his feet on the hardwood floors and wandered down the staircase.

  She was glad she’d gotten it off her chest. She wasn’t the clinging type. She didn’t need a man before she met him and she’d be fine when he moved on. She just had to keep telling herself that each time she thought about him.

  Heels made an echoing sound on the tiles that surrounded the large mirror like pool, a delicate wafting of steam coming off the water and fogging the thick glass. She continued walking, a set of double doors at the end holding her attention.

  He’d said the playroom was down here.

  Her fingers tapped the light switch outside the double doors. A low orange glow slowly built inside the room. Bailey stood in the doorway and stared.

  Bolts of all sizes and positioned at all heights dotted the walls, secured in thick, dark beams that highlighted the entire area. They made it look old, medieval and rustic. Manacles, chains and all types of leather covered shackles were hung or dangled from large steel looking rings.

  A waist high bondage table had cuffs lying off each end. A massive cross stood off to one end, large eye hooks decorating the smooth, heavy wood. She stared, uncertain what it was for but her imagination sent a flush of heat through to her core and back, tinting her cheeks and dampening her panties. She remembered the club in a rush of breath and the woman that had been attached facing the cross with red streaks along her body and the screams of her orgasm.

  Bailey gulped.

  Narrow shelves lined one wall and held all manner of paddles, whips and things with dozens of soft strands of leather. Then her gaze landed on one piece that resembled a piece from a gymnastic layout.

  A vault horse. But this one was covered in firm, dark leather. The top was rounded and smooth with leather cuffs lying on both sides, the chains holding them in place had clips that meant they could be moved. Depending on the person, she guessed. Small cuffs on one side, larger ones on the other. Bailey felt her eyes widen as Gabriel suddenly gripped her shoulders, walking her forward until she stood next to the bench.

  “A spanking bench. For bad girls who don’t know how to behave,” Gabriel said softly, his palm gliding over her behind possessively. His palm was up and circling her wrist when she reached forward, slender fingers out to stroke the leather. “Not this time. This time I want to talk to you.”

  “No,” she said instantly, her body clenched when she tried pulling her palm free and it wouldn’t budge.

  “Excuse me?” His voice was low, his body slowly pulled up to his full height.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I don’t want to talk,” she answered defiantly, her chin up but her insides a little mushy. She heard the words inside her head asking if she really knew what she was doing. “I want to play.”

  It couldn’t be a good thing that his features never moved. Not even a fraction of an inch. Nothing. No reaction. Bailey cleared her throat and stared straight ahead, noticing his suit was gone and he wore a plain tee shirt and jeans. Her eyes went to the floor.

  No shoes. She stared back at his chest.

  “You said that’s how it worked. One of the…the couple says those words.”

  “And it’s either accepted or not,” Gabriel kept his fingers around her wrist, watching her tongue play over her lips. He could easily feel the rapidly thumping of her pulse beneath his hand. “There are things we need to discuss.”

  “No.”

  “Are you trying to anger me?”

  “I don’t want to talk,” she said loudly, her gaze sweeping to the stiff arm holding her wrist. “I don’t want to think. I don’t want to see the…the picture of her from the news shows and I definitely don’t want the image of the body beneath the sheet! I don’t want to talk. If that isn’t clear enough or what you want, then let me go and I’ll leave. I don’t belong here anymore than I belonged at that club.”

  “You belong where ever I want you to be, Bailey.” He wasn’t sure how he managed to keep his voice firm, his tone level, because the very last thing he felt was calm.

  “I have to go. I can call up a cab…”

  Gabriel moved quickly, his free hand going to the nape of her neck and into her hair, pulling her head back until he could stare into her eyes. To her credit, she didn’t close them or shy away. It didn’t surprise him that there were so many emotions inside her right now. And he should have been smart enough, intuitive enough, to realize what all this was doing to her.

  “Are you using your safe word, Bailey? Because that’s the only way I’m releasing you and the only way I’ll take you to your apartment.” He waited, steeling himself against the moisture he saw gathering in her eyes. He abruptly released her and took a step back, dark eyes cold and flat. “Take off the dress.”

  Bailey wobbled back a step, blinking at the sudden change in him.

  “If you value it, Bailey, move quicker or I’ll grab and tear.” Gabriel turned from her and went to the shelf.

  Never play in anger, he heard shouted in his head as he reached for the familiar black handle of the multi-strand flogger. The strips were from the softest deer hide and could caress or smart, depending on the person using it. And he was an expert.

  Her hands shook when she lifted the silver strand of her purse over her head, crossing the room and laying it on the leather bench near the wide double doors that were open. She reached behind her, the zipper sliding down before she shrugged it over her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Bailey was reaching for one heel when his voice bit through the silence.

  “Leave the shoes,” Gabriel ground his teeth together when he turned and saw the dress fall to the floor. His cock thumped hard and ready against the snug denim when she bent and lifted the dress, laying it over the shawl and purse on the bench. “Don’t turn around,” he ordered gruffly, moving in behind her and letting the handle caress along her hip.

  “Do you have parties here?” Bailey jumped visibly when his palm slid between her legs and closed down on her mound.

  “You don’t have permission to speak tonight unless it’s to utter the safe word. I wanted to talk. You chose play,” he informed her bluntly, squeezing his fingers and raking his nails over the satin covered mound. He knew she was smooth beneath the panties and slipped his palm inside the
leg opening.

  Bailey made a move, trying to bring her feet closer together.

  “No, sub,” he said flatly, his foot going between hers and nudging it further out. “Mine to play with as I please. And you’ve made me very hungry with your defiance.” He pulled his palm free and wrapped it around the back of her neck, guiding her toward the spanking bench. “Don’t move.”

  Fine. She could be stubborn, too.

  He thought he was so smart. She glared at the leather bench, stiffening her spine. It was her fault. She knew it. She didn’t know why someone was stalking him, using her, but she knew it was her fault. She could call the lieutenant and offer to help. There had to be a way to stop…

  A high-pitched yelp broke from her lips when the sharp crack struck her pantie covered ass.

  “Where’d you go, Bailey?” He brought his palm around and cupped her chin, forcing it back. “Answer me.”

  “You told me not to speak,” she pushed back, the bright flare in his dark eyes at her challenge making her squirm. Just a little. Okay, more than a little, she thought as she realized exactly how much trouble her mouth could get her into.

  Gabriel released her and dropped to one knee, his hands working the leather cuff around her ankle, adjusting the length before moving to the other foot.

  Bailey stared down, the taut chains holding her from moving her feet closer together and any further apart. She knew exactly what a wishbone felt like.

  “Step onto the block by your foot.” Gabriel stood up and adjusted the height of the bench. When she didn’t move her foot, his palm came down hard on the other cheek of her ass. “Move, sub.”

  Bailey swallowed the yelp this time, clenching her teeth and carefully lifting her feet to the wide blocks. She had no idea what he was doing but at least most of her mind was off the murders. Then she saw him on the other side of the spanking bench, one brow arched and full lips drawn taut.

  Uh-oh.

  “Thinking again, Bailey?” He watched her chin go up, the bow of her mouth set and closed. “You really are intent on pushing the limits tonight. Bend forward,” he saw a moment’s hesitation and moved to the side when she quickly did as he said, laying her ribs against the softly rounded leather bench. It was worn almost like a saddle with her trapped neatly and firmly inside.

  Her eyes hadn’t lost their wide-eyed anticipation and her heart was thumping wildly against her chest when he took one wrist and bound it into a leather restraint. He adjusted the length and moved to the other, her frown deepening when she realized there was no movement available to her.

  “Stop struggling. It’ll only make it worse for you.” Gabriel stepped back and licked his lips before striding to a small bureau and pulling out a band of red fabric. “It’ll match your corset. Which I find really appealing on you, Bailey.” He laughed when she bit her lip to keep from commenting, his hands moving efficiently to tie the band around her eyes. “Now…we will talk.”

  Bailey grit her teeth. She would listen. Nothing was going to force her to talk if she didn’t want to. She laid her cheek against the side of the bench and tried to slow her breathing. Like yoga, she thought, focusing on the position and watching her breath going in and out.

  Until the palm swatted her behind and sent her head snapping up, her hands and feet automatically jerking the restraints but going nowhere.

  “Do I have your attention? The proper response, which you will surrender, is ‘Yes, sir,’” he instructed patiently. “And I want to hear it clearly, Bailey.”

  “Yes, sir,” she answered immediately, the hitch in her voice making her clear her throat.

  “Why are you wearing the collar, Bailey?”

  Okay, easy test. I know this answer, she thought quickly.

  “Because I belong to you.” She breathed a sigh until the palm struck again. “Sir! Oh, god, I belong to you, sir.”

  “Why else, sub?”

  Oh, god, there was another answer? Shit. Okay...

  ”Umm…so other people know I’m taken,” she said slowly, yelping when the palm came down again. “Sir!”

  “You aren’t focused, Bailey.”

  “I am! I swear, I am!”

  “Then you’d remember that you’re not to speak unless I ask a question,” his palm swung again, connecting with the panty covered bottom. “Pretty soon your ass will be the same delicious color as your panties.”

  Bailey worked to stop panting. Worked to slow her breathing because hearing was all she had and she wanted to know what was happening around her. Her body gave a lurch, a feathery softness in thin strands were being dragged up her bare legs. There was silence for several long minutes as he used the leather strips in his hand to leave feather soft trails along the insides of her thighs; over her behind and onto her shoulders. Anyplace it was bare of fabric.

  “You sparkle,” Gabriel murmured, noticing the lights glinting off something on her legs. “Why did you wear the red dress, Bailey? The text clearly instructed you to wear black.”

  “It wasn’t you,” she said hurriedly. “I can’t...you can’t…shit!” She jumped when his palm came across her ass again. “Because I was angry! Because I…was angry,” she repeated softly.

  “Defiant,” he murmured, stepping back and swinging the multi-strand flogger at her thighs.

  Bailey felt the light strands. Soft and almost delicate. She relaxed. She could handle this, she thought. Then she shivered.

  “You believe now that because it wasn’t really my instructions, you shouldn’t be punished for defying those instructions.” Gabriel watched the tension ease as she relaxed, his wrist flicking the soft strands from her thighs to her hips.

  She let his words enter her mind and winced. There really wasn’t a safe answer to that one. Sometimes she was too damned logical, she thought.

  “I suppose…technically...”

  “Technically?” He repeated with a small laugh, his wrist snapping a little stronger. That had her attention, her body jumped and she pulled on the restraints. “You disobeyed instructions that you believed came from me, Bailey. True or false?”

  “I…oh…damn it…alright! Yes! Yes, I disobeyed! Oww…” She twisted but still found there wasn’t anywhere to go. “Sir! Yes, sir. True, sir!”

  “Somehow I hadn’t imagined you quite this defiant,” he commented, the corner of his mouth tipped at the thought. This was where the voice warned him of how deep he was getting with his little sub. “I must be slipping in my old age.”

  “Yes, sir,” she answered snippily and instantly, her reward another sweep with the leather strands. Only this time, the softness wasn’t quite there as they stung across her ass. But he didn’t quite hide his laughter.

  “I suppose I’m going to have to be careful what I open myself up for with you.” He let the leather handle caress over the pink ass cheeks. “I owe you panties,” he murmured seconds before the satin and lace came away in his hand. He dropped it to the floor and stepped back to savor the view. “Much better.”

  Bailey barely caught herself, the curse low in her throat and swallowed. She gave an ineffectual kick and stomped instead.

  “Why do you think I wanted to talk to you, Bailey?”

  Because you’re naturally bossy.

  She ground her teeth together, biting back the yelp this time. She closed her eyes tight behind the blindfold and began counting in Latin. Another flick and swish across her now bare behind landed, harder than the last. A couple dozen little bees stinging with sharp little nips into her skin. Then there was the aftermath of tongues of fire across every inch he swatted.

  “I didn’t hear your answer, Bailey.”

  “It’s probably for the best, sir.”

  “Why are you wearing the collar, Bailey?” He continued when he saw her lips part. “Not what it means. Why are you wearing it? Think carefully, sub, I’m giving you a few seconds for honesty.”

  Bailey swallowed the sudden bubble that rose in her throat.

  “Because I trust you,” she
whispered finally. “Sir.”

  Gabriel almost let out a sigh. Progress.

  “You trust me,” he repeated slowly, casually running the end of the flogger along the insides of her thighs. Up one side and down the other, never touching the swollen center. Her hips twitched and he heard a low whimper and grinned. “You trust me to know what you need even while you’re struggling to understand all the confused things welling inside you. You trust me to decide what’s right or wrong; what’s proper or desired. If I don’t think you deserve it, you don’t get to come. If I decided it’s best, we sit and talk. Even when it hurts to talk.”

  Bailey kept herself from speaking. Kept herself from moving.

  “Do you trust me, Bailey?” He finally asked again, softer this time.

  “Yes, sir.”

  It warmed him that her answer came so quickly, without thought or hesitation.

  “But the idea of talking, at least tonight, seems to bother you. Why?”

  Obviously she was taking too long to answer, the swish and dozen little strands striking expertly over her ass and making her jump.

  “I don’t want polite, made up excuses, Bailey. Count of three, pet…”

  “I don’t want lies. I don’t want placated!” She burst out, wishing her hands were free so she could cover her mouth before it was too late.

  “And you believe I’d do that to you?”

  “I have to do something,” she began raggedly, swallowing and continuing when there wasn’t another swat. “Those women died and I have to do something to stop it.”

  “It isn’t your responsibility. The police are handling things,” somehow he managed to push the words between his teeth, his knuckles whitening on the handle in his hand. Never punish in anger.

  “Maybe they need help. Maybe I could do something…anything…I haven’t slept a couple hours a night. If I’m not drowning in work, her picture comes back to my head and I think about the people that had to be…had to be told...parents and…and…and I can’t even look into the box at the costume…” A sob broke free finally, tears soaking the blindfold around her eyes.